


Keith On Earth

by canonlanon



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-17
Updated: 2019-02-22
Packaged: 2019-07-13 12:31:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 28,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16017983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canonlanon/pseuds/canonlanon
Summary: Keith has always known he would die one day, anticipated it now more than ever in the middle of an intergalactic war, so it wasn’t too mentally jarring to wake up in what he presumed was the afterlife; desert sand and the hot sun from his days of living in a shack from the outskirts of Arizona. Although once taken in by a loving family with familiar smiles, the last thing Keith expects after recovering from a mild concussion is looking up and seeing a memorial for Lance McClain.





	1. Arrival

“On your left!” Keith immediately turns, sword swinging blindly into a sentry as he hears a blast next to his right ear. That was uncomfortably close.

He jumped over another sentry headed his way, knowing Allura can attack it before it reaches Hunk and Pidge squatted in the back of the room, and dives straight for a sentry turned to Lance.

They wrestle on the ground for a moment, before Keith’s arm holding the black bayard is trapped and twisted in an unnatural way, but just moments before breaking he swaps hands, reforming his sword in his left hand and taking out the sentry through the chest. He slumped under the dead weight, and the pain in his wrist buzzed with other injuries, his vision starting to become spotted before he sees a blue 'V' in his line of sight.

“Keith, buddy,” He more so feels the hand gripping under his head than he sees it, “Dammit, get  _ up _ .” and suddenly Keith is on his feet, and he shakes away the vignette that had grown over his eyes until he sees the crease in Lance’s forehead.

“What, thought a few sentries was enough to knock me off my game?” Keith smirked at the small ‘o’ of Lance’s mouth, gently pushing himself forward. He didn’t quite like the unnerving feeling of the sigh that ejected out of Lance’s mouth before he grinned.

“Nah, I’m never that lucky, now am I?”

“Guys, seriously, that was the last of them, right?” Allura stood, hands on her hips, looking between them. They shared a look, glanced around the room and out the hall where the doors were sliding shut, and nodded.

Pidge stood from her scrunched position, stretching up as she spoke, “Well, from the looks of it, this intel is almost every battle plan the Galrans have made from 10,000 years ago all the way to what they’re planning for 10,000 more.”

“Also, apparently the Galrans have assigned roommates, like a college dorm, so there’s  _that_  tidbit.” Hunk piped up from the floor, holding his hand out for Pidge to pull him up.

“Sweet, so we can literally jack their military in the streets  _and_  the sheets”

Keith glared at Lance, where he stood with a sly grin, and shot a wink his way.

“What the fuck, Lance.” He pinched the bridge of his nose before clearing his throat and patting Hunk on the shoulder.  “Alright team, let’s head ba-”

A quiet thud caught Keith off guard, and saw a cloaked figure close to Lance, who’s back was on it, his full attention on Keith’s gaping frame.

“Lance!” He ran to him, activating his bayard, and the figure stood to reveal Haggar, and she released a black electric ball of energy towards Lance.

He had started backing up when Keith reached him, turning him around in a loose hug, throwing the bayard at Haggar. Keith saw gloved hands reaching forward, and a familiar voice calling his name, and yet the only thing Keith could wonder was if he had hit Haggar or not before the world abruptly cut to black.

 

\---

 

Growing up, Keith had experienced many living conditions from moving house to house, but nothing could make him forget the year he lived out in his shack. The warmth of the Arizona sun, the slight breeze every morning, as he messed with the lizards scurrying in the sand. Keith made grabbing motions, threading his hands through the sand, however it was so much more… fluffier than he remembered.

Suddenly, his perspective was of just the sun, and Keith couldn’t remember laying down, but he recognized the feeling of sand under his paladin armor, and sighed. Keith was at the last place he called home.

This means he’s dead, right? Keith being in the desert, on  _ Earth _ , is kinda an after-life experience, even the cryo-induced sleep of the healing pods couldn’t make sand this realistic. Keith closed his eyes before he heard the faint sound of children yelling.

_ That  _ caught his attention.

Keith reached for his bayard, and bolted up when it didn’t materialize in his hand. Upon standing, he saw a girl run by with dark and unruly pigtails run past him, chased by a man maybe a few years older than Keith himself, both with the same caramel face and curly brown hair.

The girl paused in front of Keith, who looked down to see he stood in a sandbox, dead center of a playground.

“Excuse me mister?” She spoke with a slight lisp, and the older man almost ran into her.

“Damnit kid, you’re gonna get someone hurt one day, and I have a hunch I know who that’s gonna be” He spoke with a deep voice, yet Keith knew he had heard it once before.

The girl looked past the man, and pointed to Keith. “Are you a knight?”

At this, the man followed her finger and locked eyes with Keith, who blushed furiously under the combined gaze.

“I-I’m not a… knight. I’m-"

“Rosa, do not talk to strangers!” the man scowled.

“Sorry, Uncle Luis.” Rosa looked down, and noticed a stick, quickly entertaining herself with that.

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cause a disturbance-” As he went to step forward, he felt a twinge in his leg, and fell to the ground, biting back a yelp as he landed on his most definitely sprained wrist. “ _ Shit _ .”

“Hey man, you alright?” Luis had walked up to Keith, his vision already worsening.

“Yeah? Uh, where- this is Earth, right?” The question felt ridiculous on his tongue, these people probably suspected he was insane.

“Calm down, buddy, just uh, shit. Uh, you’re- holy fuck you’re bleeding, like a shitload.”

“Luis, quit cussing in front of Rosa!” a new figure entered Keith’s dwindling line of sight, and his breath caught in his throat. Tall, with shorter brown hair and worried blue eyes- almost like- 

“Who are you?” Keith gritted out.

“Marco, he’s… he looks pretty bad.” Luis spoke over him, towards who Keith barely processed as Marco.

Other words were spoken, Keith was sure of it, but his ears stopped processing sound. He felt arms around his hips and on his arms, and he choked on a hiss of pain.

“What are you-”

The world fell back to black.

 

\---

 

When he came to, Keith was face up, staring at glow in the dark stars on a ceiling he wasn’t familiar with. He was quick to jump out of bed, noticing how the cold air struck his bare legs, and he panicked. Why were his legs bare? Where did this shirt come from??? And oh my god- Keith’s head hurt like a bitch, where was he?

He noticed he was in a bedroom, one eerily Earth-like. Suddenly the door opened, and Keith jerked his head to the door.

He had a sudden urge to locate his knife and bayard.

Keith willed himself to relax, if he was on Earth, who knows how much had changed, or if there was any way for him to get himself out of this situation and back to Voltron. Whatever the circumstance, the last thing he needed to do was piss off his only current options of allies.  _Think,_   _Keith_. What would the other paladins do if they were trapped on Earth?

“Morning, V-Guy.”

Keith thought Shiro would acquaint himself with the citizens.

“Uh, Luis, was it?” Keith thought he was the one with longer and lighter curly hair, but his vision had - and still was- such a blur, he wasn’t too sure of himself.

“That’s me. And, not that V-Guy isn’t totally badass, but what’s your actual name?” He sat next to Keith, and felt a pang of guilt noticing the dried blood stained on the surrounding sheets.

“Sorry for ruining your bed, uh, the name’s Keith.” Luis dunked the rag in the bowl, wringing it to dampness, before draping the rag over his forehead.

“Keith, eh? Odd, you look like a guy my brother knew. He uh, well we never really saw that Keith, but if we did I’d imagine you’d look something like him.”

He didn’t know what this friend had to do with anything, but he simply hummed.

“I’ve been told I’m recognizable from my hair alone, so if you think it’s not me, then odds are I am not the guy you’re thinking of.” He recalled just how many times Lance had addressed him as Mullet alone, even to the point where Hunk called him it once and proceeded to cry an apology for the next two hours.

He barely missed the way the guy’s shoulders dropped, and noticed a dejected huff. It sounded familiar, like he heard it once long ago, but when trapped in space, it’s hard to wander and  _not_  find someone upset about something, especially with a war going on.

“Yea, it’d be some damn creepy magic if that were the case cause he, uh, died.”

“O-Oh, uh, sorry to bring up bad memories?” Keith felt his face heat up at the sadness swelling in Luis’ eyes, and he hated it so much. He didn’t know why, but seeing this stranger feel so at lost over something, especially something Keith could’ve avoided, made his insides churn with sharp glass.

And in that blink-and-you-miss-it moment, Luis went from looking like a small lost child, to a slightly less-lost, grown up child. He quirked his mouth into a smile, grabbing the rag off Keith’s face.

“S’Okay. Happened years ago, but sometimes it just… it hurts, i guess.” The warm gaze felt familiar to Keith, like it was something he had grown up with his entire life.

“Yea, it hurts losing people you care about.” He sighed, and looked up to the glowing sticker stars. He counted each one, and with a new star came a new name. Mom. Dad. Shiro. Shiro again. Shiro again and again and again. Damn, maybe he should have Pidge install a tracker in his arm.

_ Pidge _ . If she were here, the  _ first  _ thing she’d do is ask for their location.

“If you don’t mind, where am I?”

Luis laughed. “Welcome to Varadero Beach, Keith.”

Keith’s breath caught in his throat and the world slowed. Luis set the bowl aside, turning to Keith and noticed him attempting to sit up. At the sound of Keith’s slight hiss, he tsked, pushing Keith back down.

“That’s a No-Go, my friend. See, you’re banged up something serious, you’re on official bed arrest.”

Keith scoffed, “Please, I just discovered I’m in Varadero Beach, which has some scary implications in of itself, and you want to keep me in a kid’s bedroom?”

Luis looked down, and Keith knew he overstepped something, somewhere. Shit.

“Listen I… I’ll stay down, but I have to ask you a few questions, and you have to swear to keep it a secret. Can you do that?” Keith was doubting whether or not this Luis could be trusted or not, but what other choice was there? As much as he hated to admit, Keith needed help, and answers, desperately.

Luis perked up, turning to give him an encouraging nod, “Of course.”

Before Keith could begin, there was a knock on the door. An older woman with a tray of toast and eggs with a glass of what Keith vaguely remembered to be orange juice walked in, placing the wooden tray over him.

“You can drill the poor boy later, Luis, but first, eat.” She pat Keith’s leg, barely missing the swollen section where he had been kicked down by a sentry.

“And… Who are you?” Keith resisted the urge to grab handfuls of the comforter.

“This is my Abuela. An old Hag if you ask me.” Luis’ retort earned him a lighthearted whack upside the head, and Keith knew it was affectionate, but still felt his gut drop momentarily, before the old woman leaves the room.

“Well, Keith. Dig in.”

Breakfast was amazing, and Keith honest to god nearly cried at the sight of toast, because it’s been so long since he’s had Earth food, and he really doesn’t know what’s going on but it’s toast, and not even Hunk’s modifiers can truly recreate the real thing.

But what, was he supposed to just take it? Did Keith have to ask to have toast? That seemed polite, but-wait isn't it rude to grab from a table without the highest command’s approval, or is that some other planet?

“Here, dude.”  Luis must've noticed his turmoil, and handed him a few slices. With a quiet ‘thank you’, Keith scarfed them down, and if a single tear formed in his eyes, he sure hoped none was the wiser.


	2. Separation

“What do you mean he just _disappeared?_  He can't do that! He can't just vanish out of thin air right in front of our faces!” Lance slammed his hands down on the table, nearly missing the bowl of food goo below him.

“Lance, please, calm down. We're doing everything we can think of, but you just got out of a healing pod, please at least eat something.” Shiro placed a hand on Lance’s shoulder, and slightly winced when he felt the muscles tense under his hand.

So maybe Kuron did some serious damage even past the grave, but they really didn't have the time to dwell on that.

“Shiro, he- I…” Lance closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. Everyone in the room went silent. “Keith worked so hard to find you after you went missing not once, not twice, but technically three times. He found you, every single time.” Lance moved from the table, ignoring how Hunk softly calls his name. “He didn't wait around hoping the others would figure it out for him. And I’m not about to let him just- just wait like a sitting duck! For what? Death? Torture?”

“Lance, we don't know where to even start looking for him.” Hunk tried to reach for his arm, but he jerked it back.

“I’ll take Red out now, see if he can sniff out Keith.” Lance was already standing, and Shiro jumped to make him sit again.

“Eat first.”

They heard a faint growl somewhere in the castle.

“Sounds like Red doesn't want to wait around for that, besides,” Lance stood under Shiro’s robotic hand. “Not hungry.”

He slipped out the room, and Shiro sighed.

 

-

 

“C’mon, Red. We gotta find him.”

Lance had been riding around for just over two hours, and he could feel the anxiety rolling off of Red and himself. It swirled around the air of the cockpit, strangling Lance’s thoughts and infiltrated the connection between him and the lion.

“Lance,” Coran’s headshot glitched into his line of vision. “Please return to the castle.”

He didn’t look, but instead jolted the controls at the sudden sound of his voice so hard, Red almost flew into an asteroid. Lance turned to yell at Coran, and when he finally looked he noticed red lights blaring in the background, and the slight noise of a siren.

“Lance, please.” Coran was nervous, getting close to the camera, cutting off the view of Allura opening a wormhole. Lance turned around and piloted towards it.

“I’m coming.”

 

\---

 

“Someone better start explaining how in the hell we’re dealing with these Galrans, I thought we went over their routes.” Lance felt his own agitation intertwine with the feelings of the other lions, all fighting against the three Galra ships that began attacking the castle.

“We didn’t get to this one yet, there was a lot of information to brief on, which you would’ve known had you been at the castle.” Pidge bit back.

“Oh excuse me for actually trying something productive, Pidge.” The words tasted bad even as they left his mouth.

“Lance, Pidge, hush it. We’re dealing with the Galra right now, not each other.” Shiro tried to soothe the two, but they only separated to avoid attacking each other.

When they destroyed the rest of the ships, Lance started to head back out when the Green Lion dragged him backwards towards the castle.

“Pidge, not now.”

“Oh I’m sorry, did I fucking ask?”

Neither said another word until they were inside the castle, where they met in the hangar of the Green Lion. Pidge ran to Lance, shoving him hard to the ground. He growled at her, and the two simultaneously threw their helmets to the ground after hearing Shiro try to talk them down through the comms.

“You know what, Lance? I pitied you. I felt sorry for you, because I know how much Keith means to you, but did you consider how much he means to everyone else?” Pidge bent down, getting in Lance’s face.

“Did _you_ consider I know you see him as a brother, I know you love Keith too, that you and Hunk and everyone else see him as family? I know this. I’m pretty fucking aware, Pidge. You weren’t…” Lance was standing now, gesturing forward to blank air. “ _Nobody_ was trying! It was as if Keith disappearing was the most normal fucking thing and he’d be back within the dobash. Well guess what Pidge, he _wasn’t_.” Pidge scoffed, crossing her arms over her armor.

“Lance, we had been doing all the research we could while you were in the pod. Do you know how long you were in there? Almost a whole fucking week.” Lance’s whole body froze when he noticed the tears prickling at Pidge’s eyes. He didn’t like the calmness of her voice, only moments ago it was a shouting match and now… Pidge was on the verge of whispering. Lance felt like throwing up.

“We almost lost you, and Keith was just-just _gone_ , and I knew- I fucking _knew_ this would happen, because you’re _just fucking like him_ , Lance. Neither of you want to stop for just a fucking _second_ to get your stories straight and-and-”

Lance engulfed her in a hug, the two dropping to the floor.

“I’m sorry, Pidge. You’re trying your best, everyone is. I should’ve- I didn’t listen. I should’ve stopped for a minute, given you a chance to speak.” He brushed a hand through her hair, it regaining it’s fluffy nature. “I was scared, still am, honestly. And when I heard there was nothing on him, no leads or anything, I just- panicked. I’m sorry. I was an ass to you and everyone else, and that- that’s not fair to you guys.”

Pidge still slightly shook from under Lance’s arms.

“No, I’m sorry, too. We just got Shiro back, and Kuron did a number on everyone but, he had a certain nag on you. I get that you wanted to find Keith, especially before there was room for another Kuron incident.”

Lance shuddered at the thought of another Kuron, cloaked as Keith.

“Both of you, separate _now-_ ” Shiro busted through the door, nearly tripping when he saw the two hugging, silently letting tears fall on each other.

“Oh, guys.” He mumbled, and felt Hunk push past him to join the paladins on the floor.

It soon became a small group on the floor, the crew of the castle crying, mourning over the void that Keith left, and Lance hoped in some far off world Keith was waiting, hoped that he was safe.

He closed his eyes to another tear rolling off his chin.


	3. Awaken

If Keith didn’t know any better, he would suspect that he’s dealt with this stupid smartassery before, from his own teammates. Alas, Keith did know better, and needed to seriously learn some self meditation and fast before he blew up on this damn Cuban boy in front of him.

“Luis, please. Listen to me. I need you to calm down.”

After explaining that he wasn’t in the playground right before he woke up, Luis had asked him if he had gone to a bar. Apparently, “Does space count as a bar” wasn’t the right answer.

“You expect me to calm down after saying you’re- wait. Are you an alien?” Luis’ bright blue eyes fixated on Keith, eyes trailing to the scar on his face. 

“I’m not an  _ alien _ !” He instinctively covered his cheek, the memory of Lance pointing at it with a gaping mouth coming to mind.

He too had squawked and over exaggeratedly pointed, and Keith thought he really couldn’t handle running into Lance in a situation like this. Maybe the Lance he knows now would be fine, but not Stranger Lance. Stranger Lance would never let him hear the end of it, and this Luis isn’t fairing to be much different.

“Luis, listen. The last thing I remember is being hit with a magical cast… spell... thing.” Keith scratched behind his ear, “I really don’t know how Haggar’s magic works.”

The older boy studied Keith's face. He felt Luis’ hand press against his forehead, and groaned.

“I’m not insane, either.” Keith huffed, but Luis still looked on.

“Just a suggestion,a total spit-baller here, but there’s a bar a few blocks down from here, and Veronica- Marco and I’s sister- works there, and they’re kinda known for their mad intense drinks. Are you sure you didn’t just....” Luis gestured in front of himself, “get super hammered?”

“Luis, the last time I was on Earth, I was 18 and living in America. This is definitely not the same year as then, and something tells me Cuba isn’t my house in Arizona. So no, I didn’t get shitfaced at your sister’s bar.” Keith pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Arizona?” Luis seemed to perk inexplicably, and before Keith could reach shouting levels of annoyance, Marco entered the room.

“Luis, trade out. Ma wants you.” Marco stood in the doorway, arms crossed and holding a bottle Keith thought was medicine, almost glaring at Keith. It made his blood boil. If Keith only had a little more of Luis’ time, he could’ve convinced him.

“Fine, you talk to Space Alien Boy for a while.” Luis rubbed at his eyes.

“I’m not an  _ alien!" _

But Luis was already out the door. Keith groaned.

“Listen up, buddy. What do you remember? The sooner we figure this out, the sooner we can get you home.” Marco’s stature reminded him of Shiro, and Keith felt his first ache of homesickness since waking on Earth.

He suddenly felt pity for Shiro, he too had suddenly woken up on Earth, with much less friendly hospitality.

“Bud? Keith?” Marco was standing at the edge of the bed, gently leaning into his vision.

“Y-Yea uh, like I said. I wasn’t exactly… here two days ago.” 

Marco sat at the wooden chair that had long since been pulled over,  and huffed. “Sorry to break it to ya bud, but you were out for three days.” Keith’s mind halted.  _ Three days _ .

Keith was already trying to stand again. _ Think, Kogane. You’ve been stranded on Earth for three days, nobody will believe you teleported from space, and apparently you’re seen as a confused drunk.  _ Marco was quick to keep him in place. He handed Keith a small cup of the medicine, and spoke again after he downed it.

“Keith, do you know your home address?”

“1800 Castle of Lions” Keith muttered sarcastically, but Marco tilted his head.

“I’ve uh, never heard of that neighborhood, I’m sorry-”

“Because it’s not a neighborhood.” Keith rolled his eyes, locking onto familiar blues, “It’s an actual castle. Technically it doubles as a spaceship for Alteans, a race of people who are now long gone, all except Princess Allura and her Royal Adviser, Coran, but that’s really making them out to sound more profession oriented than they really are.”

Marco’s eyes widened. He fiddled with the medicine in his hands.

“K-Keith, will you excuse me for a moment? I uh, need to ask Luis a question really quickly. Besides, uh, medicine should be making you drowsy anyways.” And just like that, Marco was gone, too.

_ Another one bites the dust, _ Keith thinks, as his world falls back to a black that’s becoming unnervingly routine.

 

\---

 

“Marco, what if he’s-”

“Dude, don’t. Do not  _ even  _ go there.”

“He said he lived in Arizona when he was 18. That other kid went missing at 18 at Galaxy Garrison, which, mind you, is  _ located in Arizona _ .”

“Luis, this guy isn’t him. This guy is probably just another drunk, who just seriously blacked out at Roni’s bar. Luis he- he was talking about aliens as if they were his  _ friends _ . This guy is just off his knocker.”

“I… Ugh, you’re- you’re right. Damn, but what if? That’d be… something else.”

“Yea, I know.”

“I just wish there was something we could’ve done.”   


“...Yea. I know.”

 

\---

 

When Keith came to, the little girl from the playground was sitting at the edge of his bed. Upon feeling his movements, she whipped her head in his direction, the blue eyes that seem to be a common thread through these people locking onto Keith.

“Hi! I’m Rosa Sanchez! What’s your name? Isn’t it Keith? I heard my uncles talking about a Keith Cockroach, is your last name Cockroach? That’s a funny last name, mister.”

The ball of energy had crawled up to his face, curly pigtails bouncing the entire way. Keith tried to absorb all her questions, but the migraine in his head made it difficult to process anything at a high speed, so his reply was significantly delayed.

What was this about a cockroach?

“My last name is Kogane?” Keith tilted his head at her, and she vigorously nodded.

Keith felt his migraine worsen.

“Yea! That’s what I said. Ko...ah… uh. Cockroach.” He couldn’t help the snort that came out.

Rosa looked similar to Marco and Luis, but with significantly curlier hair. All of the (presumably) Sanchez's had the bluest eyes Keith had ever seen, rivaling Lance’s, and that was saying something. Lance had the prettiest blue eyes in the universe, and Keith can say that because he’s seen the entire universe, fought in it too, but this family just almost beat him out.

_ Lance _ . Keith wondered what he was doing right now, if he was consoling some member of the team over his disappearance, like he did for Keith when Shiro went missing. Before Kuron. Before Voltron was a mess and Lance was trying to help everyone else... His breath hitched in his throat when he thought that maybe  _ Lance  _ was being consoled over his absence. Keith shut his eyes and took a deep breath before turning his attention back to the little girl poking his shoulder. Deal with one obstacle at a time. _ Patience yields focus _ . All he had to do was get in touch with Voltron, and he was set.

“Mister? Are you feeling okay? I was supposed to get my Mamá when you woke up but then you started talking so I kinda just wanted to talk with you.” She giggled, and Keith managed a grim nod.

“Well as lovely as this conversation has been, I think I really need to talk to your mama.”

“You said it funny.” Rosa scrunched her nose. “It’s Mamá.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “Your Mamá.”

She pinched her chin, giving his pronunciation a moment’s thought, before nodding. “Close enough, sir.” Rosa tilted her head slightly away from Keith’s ear, just before giving him a mild heart attack by yelling “MAMÁ”

Sharp thuds were heard outside the room, and Keith made out the distinct sound of high heels on the wooden floor.

“What is it Rosa? Is he- Oh.” Veronica flew the door open, breathing a sigh of relief seeing Keith’s open eyes. “Morning, Sleeping Beauty.”   


“Day four?” Keith asked, and Veronica gave a sharp nod.

“Rosa, sweetie, go downstairs and get this man’s breakfast, ok? It’s right next to Grams’ table.”

Rosa jumped off the mattress, giving a curt nod and a military salute before bolting out the door.

“That should keep her busy for the next ten minutes or so.” Veronica rubbed at her face, miraculously not smearing her eyeliner. “Sorry if she woke you, she just… got excited.”   
  
Keith nodded, before speaking up. “Not every day you let a stranger in armor crash at your place?” Which earned a tired huff from Veronica that sort of resembled a laugh.

“You’re Soldier 13, believe it or not. And oddly enough, the suit isn't the weirdest thing I’ve seen. It’s ridiculous the amount of people who just crash after leaving the bar, and I end up taking a lot of them home.” Veronica sat in the wooden chair by Keith’s bed, folding her hands in on herself. “Rather them dirty my sheets for a night then get themselves killed on their way home.”

“Listen, I wasn’t at your bar-”   
  
“I know. Believe me, I think I would’ve remembered seeing the likes of you strutting around my bar.” She studied his battered appearance. “At least, I certainly hope none of my customers got this violent.”

Keith’s bandages had been replaced twice since he found himself under the blue sheets of the stranger’s bed, and he was looking a little worse for wear. His wrist was feeling much better, but his leg was still taking its sweet time to feel better.

“No, no it wasn’t anyone you would know, trust me.” Keith decided to tread lightly with her, see if he couldn’t scare her off after a few sentences.

Rosa came bursting back through the door with the same wooden tray as the day before, and Keith didn’t think it was possible to feel so excited about getting to eat toast again, but what could he say? It was some damn good toast.

Keith reviewed his mental checklist on what he needed to do on Earth in order to get back to Voltron and out of the Sanchez household. What Keith really needed to do was get in touch with Voltron. Oblivious to his inner turmoil, Rosa talked to Veronica about some picture she drew in class the day before, and how it even had a matching red ‘V’, similar to the one on Keith’s armor which laid strewn in a corner. He needed to contact Voltron. Keith needed to go home.

He just hoped he could figure out how.

 

\---

 

Luis had gravitated back to Keith’s temporary bedroom, where he sat in a wooden chair by the bed, mumbling stories to fill the silence.

“-then he opened the window and just yelled at the top of his lungs.” Luis laughed, shaking his head. Keith was only partially paying attention, losing himself in his own thoughts from time to time. From what he gathered, Luis was describing a prank he and his brother, Marco, had pulled on another sibling. “Man our brother has never screeched higher.”

“You have another brother?” Keith thought back to when he had first met his peers; befriending people was essential in a smooth transition from Point A, Earth, to Point B, Voltron. 

Luis tensed slightly, eyes scanning the room. “Yeah.”

Keith absentmindedly wondered if this was his brother’s room.

“Yeah, we have another brother. Had. He’s uh… not around anymore.” Luis looked down at his intertwined hands, rubbing his thumb through his other fingers as a distraction.

“Oh, I see.” Keith gulped. The brother was dead, wasn’t he? “It uh- It hurts. Losing people you care about.”

“Yeah? What makes you say that?” Luis smiled, but his eyes were watering. The room looked relatively clean, and Keith wondered just how recent this kid's death was. 

“Take it from an orphan who also lost his brother,” Keith leaned back against the headboard of the bed, closing his eyes, “It doesn't get any easier, but it won't get any harder. Just keep pushing forwards.”

He heard a low whistle. “That sounds like something La- my brother would say-without y'know, the orphan bit- but hey, you’re moving on day by day, and sometimes that’s the only thing we can do.”

If Keith hadn’t already been in the weirdest situation of his life (maybe not the weirdest), he would find it uncomfortably odd to start tearing up in a dead stranger’s bedroom with his brother, but alas; life takes Keith by surprise yet again.

“There’s this guy I know,” Keith leaned a bit forward, finding a positive sidenote that the pain in his side had extensively resided, “he would always be there. Always ready with some assistance to the situation. I lost my brother; thought he was dead, and then one day… he just shows up out of nowhere.

“My friend was there to help me get my brother, and was there when I almost lost him again. He was there when I was left in charge after thinking my brother had died  _ again _ , and that’s- that’s a pretty intense situation to begin with. This guy? He just rolled with it, took everything in stride, and I owe my success to him.”

“He sounds like a great guy.” Luis hummed, before tilting his head. “Although I gotta know; what the hell do you mean by your brother died  _ again _ ?”

Keith shook his head. “Oh you know, a wicked witch and her alien husband had telekinetically broken him down atom by atom and projected his essence into the astral plane, another realm of existence past this.” He waved around the air in front himself.

He bit back a laugh at Luis’ bewildered expression.

“Damn, I keep forgetting you probably have a concussion or something, which you totally do by the way we’re giving you meds for that, but this is some whole new level of creativity.”

Keith laughed as Luis huffed, and shook his head. What a creative imagination he must have, then.


	4. Dealing with Absence

“Keith, no!” Lance yelled. His outstretched arm froze, and he snapped his head to turn and look at Haggar, blood clouding his vision.

“You witch! Where is he?” Lance launched himself at her, and there was a silent plea. He can't be gone. _Please, take me instead._

He tackled Haggar, noticing the sword stuck in her lower abdomen. The black bayard was still here.

“Get off him!” Hunk bellowed, charging to where Lance wrestled with the old woman.

Haggar kept trying to vaporize herself away, and Lance assumed the injury was handicapping her. Hunk pulled Lance off her, and as he was dragged backwards he pulled out his bayard. _One shot._

The barrel of his gun finished forming, and Lance paused. A better idea infested itself in his mind. He stood, pulled from under Hunk’s shaking grasp, and charged again. Forming his sword, Lance slid through Haggar where she laid, watching the life drain from her glowing eyes; quintessence dripping from the open wound, out her mouth, pooling underneath her corpse. He didn't look away, but most everyone else did.

He thinks he heard Allura call his name. Maybe she did, maybe she didn’t, but he couldn't hear her because the world was falling to black. Everything was falling in and out of focus. Lance saw Haggar float up, almost in a ghostly sense, and drift towards him. His legs stopped working, slightly shaking. She drifted next to his ear, and whispered _“You will never truly kill me.”_

The last Lance experiences is Haggar's fingers stretching over his throat, and a quick, firm grasp.

 

\---

 

Lance woke himself with a gasp, hands shaking, lingering over the ghost-like touch left on his neck. He shook his head. That never happened. Haggar died, then the team left. That's it. Haggar was dead, soul was gone or whatever, they had her corpse in a cryopod in the lower levels to prove it.

Still, Haggar had an uncomfortably quick death. With Keith’s blow to her stomach and the likely amount of energy she had to build to do… whatever she did to Keith, it's not entirely impossible that she did die, but Haggar was just such a threat it seemed as though she'd rein from the shadows forever.

It was too sudden, and didn't quite feel real. Lance stood quickly, changing out of his sweaty shirt before pulling his jacket on and leaving his room. Wandering through the halls, his mind drifted to how Haggar's body unceremoniously flopped over, and how disgustingly please Lance felt about it. Didn't mind the rippling fire pulse through his veins. The mere memory made his stomach churn.

What hurt on a whole new level was how raw a memory it was, and not only for Lance. The entire team seemed weary around him, especially Allura, and he couldn't say he blamed them. God, Allura. She had gripped his arm and dragged him out of the room, almost all the way back to the Red Lion. The slight tremor under her hand, the glazed numbness in her eyes.

Lance found himself stumbling into the Observation Deck, and looked across the stars that slowly passed by. He should've just shot Haggar, he would be at a distance, to where he couldn't memorize every detail of her death. He should've used his gun, fuck symbolism, because it hurt Allura and Coran. It hurt to be reminded of how someone so dear to them died, and Lance pulled that memory and placed it on display loud and clear.

He sighed, staring out to the stars a little longer. “Where are you, Keith?”

“There was a tradition on Altea,” Allura suddenly appeared, standing next to him, looking Lance over before sitting down with him, “where children could wish on any star of their choosing, and if they believed, and sought perseverance, their wish would come true.”

She sighed, “However, you can only choose one star, and you can only wish on that one in particular, otherwise it's simply a waste of breath.”

“Do you have a star?” Lance asked. It felt weird, like he knew this was an olive branch, however it felt so much more… real and personal.

Allura stood, swiping her hand to open the graph of all the stars in the universe. She kept searching and searching for what felt like ages, and it was a brief reminder of just how large the universe really was, how far away from home Lance was. Allura stopped finally, the star closest to what was the remains of Altea, and turned to face Lance.

“My star was our sun, to where I always knew where to find it. Everyone else chose stars from the farthest corners of the galaxy, some that seemed so distant they lapsed into a different universe entirely, but I…” Allura sat next to him again. “I felt safest talking to Altea’s sun. It was truly beautiful, in it’s own massive-fiery-ball-of-gas kind of way.”

Lance snorted. Allura had a small smile on her face, before clearing her throat.

“I never really made wishes. Nothing seemed wish-worthy when you’re twelve and royalty of a planet such as Altea. Everything was fine, Father was off running mission after mission with Voltron, and my mother and I stayed in the castle, governing our people. It was fun, hosting welcoming parties to intergalactic travelers, fighting in the training deck with friends, even droning biology lessons from Coran weren’t so bad.” Allura’s hand went up to her mouth, eyebrows drawn and tears coated the far-off look in her eyes. “My only wish now would be that I could’ve prevented Zarkon from killing my father. My people. My… everything.”

Lance felt his heart ache. He shouldn’t be hearing this. He hurt Allura, and she's here trying to convey a point that Lance wasn't too sure he deserved to hear. But looking at how Allura was almost physically pushing herself to go on, he knew he had to listen. She’s telling him this for a reason, but why? Why is she putting herself through so much pain, just to talk to him?

“When my father died, it was the last day I lived in my own year, surrounded by people in my own time. My own people. It was the day I was locked in a cryopod that wouldn’t be opened for another ten thousand years.” Her tears were spilling everywhere, and the sleeve of her nightgown was slowly getting drenched with snot.

“Zarkon killed my father with the black bayard, a sword made by my father’s own hands. It’s… not poetic per se, but there’s certainly got to be some symbolization there. Either-or, I took his death to heart, and still do. Not only was it a death of someone I loved so much and trusted with every fiber of my being, but it was also a death caused by someone else I saw the same way. Zarkon was always a present figure in my life, and then for him and Honerva to go mental like they did… it hurt.” Allura sniffled before looking at Lance. “And then you killed Haggar, and can I just say; Wow.”

Lance ducked his head. “I’m sorry, Allura. I just-I was upset, and angry- cause y’know, now Keith is missing because of her- and figured I could form an Altean sword, and if it was Galra that took down Altea, I thought there would be some irony in Altea… taking down Galra…” He was digging his own grave, and Lance could feel himself choking on the dirt.

“Lance, what you did was… honestly? It was the most clever thing I’ve witnessed in a very long time.” a faint smirk grew on Allura’s face, and Lance’s mind drew a blank.

“Wait, so let me get this straight. You… aren’t mad at me?”

Allura’s face twisted into shock. “ _Mad_ at you? Why would I be mad at you? You killed Haggar, Lance, something I knew I would never be strong enough to do. But you did it. And with my father’s own sword, no less. What a stroke of genius.” A small laugh fell from her face. “You really weren’t kidding when you said you wouldn’t let my father down.”

Lance felt like he could finally breathe again. Maybe it was possible he and Allura were seriously becoming good friends, not that they weren’t before or anything, it's just nice to connect sometimes.

“Glad to hear it, Princess.”

That’s where the night was supposed to end in Lance’s mind. However, it’s a rarity for things to work in his favor, and apparently, Allura wasn’t quite ready to go to bed yet.

“Lance, you said you were upset and angry.”

_Oh for the love of all things-_

“I think I understand why.”

If Lance let out a silent ‘Quiznack’, it fell deaf on Allura’s ears.

“Allura, it’s been an eventful night, and I’m kinda just ready for bed. I know you can just wake up and be gorgeous, but some of us need our beautyrest.”  He tried squirming away, but paused briefly when Allura wrapped her hand around his wrist.

Lance suddenly remembered his dream. How Dream Haggar had tried to choke him, and maybe she did. Maybe Lance is actually dead right now and Keith is safe in the castle. A guilty pang in his gut made him realize he’d wished that were the case.

“Lance?”

Right-o. Still standing in front of the princess, Lance.

“U-Uh yea I gotta-I’m gonna- goodnight, Allura.”

He bolted from the Observation Deck hearing Allura sigh. He left before he could see her turn and close her eyes in the direction of Altea’s sun.

 

\---

 

Wandering the castle this late at night should be illegal, Lance decides as a parting thought, and only pauses when he hears grunts and the clash of metal coming from the main wing of the training room. Lance sprinted, who could be training this late at night? Slowing his pace in front the door, he tripped over himself upon seeing the training room empty; the only other person stupid enough to train at such a late hour besides Lance was Keith, and well…

Keith wasn’t training in the castle right now, was he?

Lance heaved a sigh, cursing his imagination for tricking himself to thinking Keith was still around, still in the castle. He pivoted, forcing his feet to move Lance out of the room, allowing himself to roam again.

Lance bit his lip as he passed through the halls, absentmindedly wondering if Hunk is awake, if he wouldn’t mind hanging out for a bit. As he approached the doors, he heard soft snores seep through. So much for a late night distraction, eh? Headed further down the hall, Lance heard a shriek, freezing in the middle of the hallway. Was his mind playing tricks on him again?

Another yell was heard from the very end of the hall, and Lance barely had time to blink before he realized he was sprinting, sliding in front of the source of the noises.

Shiro’s bedroom.

“Shiro? You in there, buddy?” Which, of course he was. Idiot. The way the doors slid open, pooling light into the dark abyss of Shiro’s room was a clear enough invitation for him, slowly tiptoeing in, eyes wandering before landing on Shiro’s sunken frame.

“Hey, buddy.” Lance sat at the end of the bed, the lights threaded through the walls dimmed, yet still highlighting Shiro’s nose, adding a small glimmer to the pupils of his eyes, and Lance realized belatedly that Shiro was shaking.

“Shiro-?” Suddenly, the man wrapped his arms around him and squoze, and rough flashbacks of his battle with Kuron hijacked his train of thought. Jumping up and pushing Shiro back, Lance heaved a moment before swallowing warm bile back down his throat.

“Lance? Lance I’m sorry, I didn't mean to-” Shiro was on the floor next to Lance, hands outstretched but twitching over his shoulder, weary to make contact. “I’m sorry.”

Lance gulped, slowly raising his line of sight to meet Shiro’s eyes. They were beady in the glow of the nightlight, but they held color. They didn't glow yellow and Shiro’s small frown didn't hold any malice, so _fucking breathe, Lance._

“S’Not your fault.” Lance gulped, grabbing onto Shiro’s elbow. “Jus’ freaked out for a second.”

Shiro nodded, slowly putting weight in his hand, gripping at Lance’s bicep.

“I uh, heard you down the hall. You okay?”

“Oh,” Shiro gasped lamely, “Did I wake you up? I’m sorry-”

“No I was- I was awake. Don't worry.” Lance assured, and the sigh that came from Shiro was laced with concern. “Are you okay?” Lance repeated.

“Just a bad dream.” Shiro breathed. Lance leaned a little forward, inching for Shiro to keep talking. He sighed.  

“I was looking through the cams in the castle, during you know, the mission.  It was like I was living through Kuron again, like I was there, watching Haggar attack you guys, unable to do anything. I was forced to just sit and watch, then suddenly-” Shiro gulped “suddenly the screen glitches and everyone's dead. There's so much blood.”

Shiro was staring past Lance’s head, speaking through a haze.

“I’m sorry I wasn't there to help.” Shiro leaned forward, pushing his forehead into Lance’s chest. “At the end of the day, you’re all so young- you shouldn't be experiencing any of this. You should be having your first drink of alcohol, going to parties, going to school, getting in relationships, having sex, living life; _on Earth_ . Not here. Not in some war in _space_ , a predestined obligation you never signed up for.”

Lance wondered if this was a rehearsed speech or if Shiro was just rambling at this point, but he swallowed the dry nothingness of his mouth, rubbing Shiro’s back.

“You were right where we put you; safe on the Castle, out of harm’s way. It’s not your fault, who knows what would’ve happened if you were there- if there would’ve been anything different. What if you had been there, and we lost you again? It was so hard the first time, and the next, and the next-” Lance repeated himself a few extra times, just for a rise out of Shiro, “but it was so hard on everyone. Pidge spent even more time in research, refused to spend more than a moment outside her makeshift lab. Hunk had helped Coran around the castle, cleaning and making sure everyone trained properly and ate when we could. Allura- Well, she kept to herself mainly, and then there was Lotor…

“But holy shit, Shiro. Keith was devastated. He would disrupt royal council meetings, would just about dismember the entire training room, and seriously gave the team a run for their money in our first few missions.” Lance remembered just how Keith had run off on his own for a while, a small smile forming when recognizing Keith's growth, how he valued caution moreso now than before. How Keith was willing to work with his team, not against them.

“There was this one time, Keith was running drills in the training room and Pidge wasn't fully paying attention, so he just. Slaps her bayard out her hand like some high school bully.” Lance was speaking through giggles at the memory. “He-He put his hands on his hips, bent down to be eye level with Pidge- which is pretty down there- and just goes ‘GETCHA HEAD IN THE GAME.’”

Shiro barked out laughing, “No he did not. That movie is _so old,_ oh my god.”

“Oh he so totally did, and Hunk can testify. God, he would do random things so… unlike himself to make us laugh or get situated. He was busting his ass to try and get us to just... chill out. Makes me wonder if he was always like this, or if space just fucked his mullet into his brain and now we're just reteaching Keith how to Human, because let's be real, he's never like that, and Keith was super cool with the team.”

Shiro huffed, “Not exactly; Keith may be dense, but he always manages to fix the situation. Although he starts about ten more along the way.” Shirog grinned, and Lance laughed. “He’s a great kid, his raw enthusiasm made me notice him at the Garrison, something that I’ve heard goes the same for you?”

Lance felt his cheeks burn as Shiro leaned a bit closer, the two still in an odd hug/cuddle on the floor, his eyebrows waggling unnecessarily.

“Wh-What?! Who said that? Why do you believe that?” Lance dropped Shiro’s weight, opting to cross his arms over his chest, and Shiro slapped a hand over his eyes to tilt his head back and laugh.

“A little birdie told me."

“Shiro. This is _space_ . What fucking bird in space knows anything about Earth, let alone- let alone _that..._ ” Lance started wrapping his arms around his knees, pulling them close to his chest. “If you're talking about Pidge, I’m gonna kill her.”

Shiro smiled softly. “I’ll give her a warning.”

Lance avoided eye contact with Shiro again, for a whole new reason.

“So, is it true? Do you… like Keith?”

Shiro’s bluntness made Lance shriek, face exploding red, hiding himself behind an arched arm.

“Keith is a very important member of Team Voltron and I hold him in high regards not only to myself but my fellow peers, and wish nothing but the best of wishes for his travels and his saftey, so if that means I like him, then sure.” Lance wanted to get out of the darkness of the room, but Shiro was laughing, which is better than whatever was happening an hour ago, so Lance supposed he could bite the bullet of humilation.

“Thank fucking god, I thought I was pairing you two up just to watch you guys argue.”

Nevermind, Lance wanted to spit the bullet out. What the fuck?

_“What?!”_

Lance was backing towards Shiro’s bed, pushing his back into the side as Shiro rolled over on the floor.

“In my defense, I wasn't positive you were into dudes, but I overheard Pidge and Hunk one day- something about how you were so far up your own ass you couldn't recognize your own flirting- and decided, yeah. I’ma meddle.” Shiro sighed, propping himself up on the palms of his hand.

“You know why you were such a big inspiration to me growing up, Shiro?” Lance huffed, “You were nobody.”

Shiro straightened his back, eyebrows furrowing.

“You were just some guy who was going to space, who was accomplishing his dreams- but you were also in a relationship. A relationship that meant so, so much to thirteen-year-old me. You were dating Adam and for me to see a man out there doing what he loved while being with a guy he loved… it uh…” Lance scratched at the back of his neck. “It gave me… hope? Cause like, not only was I super jazzed about space, I also was super jazzed about my older sister's boyfriend, who was super hot. He ended up being a dick, so I guess you can't win them all, but for a while I-I hated the way I felt around him. I hated the twist in my gut when I passed my friend in middle school. Or that one dude in my flight class who would always tease me,” Lance abruptly choked when he remembered just _who_ that was,  ‘B-But seeing you standing there, outwardly feeling that way and not being scared… it made me feel less scared.”

“Lance, my journey was my everything, for that exact reason. I wanted people to realize they could do anything and be anything at the same time, which is part of the reason I stressed to go on the Kerberos mission.” Shiro scooted closer to Lance, both boys leaning with their backs against the bed. “-among other things. But I’m glad to hear that I could help in some way. If you don’t mind me asking, when did you recognize what you were feeling?”

Lance huffed. “Honestly? Sometimes I still don’t. I shoved those kind of thing away, ‘cause I couldn’t think like that. I had other things to worry about, and even if I let myself… wonder, let’s say, it never ended well. Being… y’know… is fine and all, but what if it wasn’t? What if that wasn’t true, and everyone around me would turn on me?”

Lance remembered how his siblings would poke fun at the few lesbian couples that popped up on TV, each beat of laughter cutting deep in his gut. He focused so hard on girls after that, made sure that was his whole romantic view; anything more would be dangerous waters and Lance wasn’t strong enough. But seeing Shiro go through everything he has, be himself to the very end, Lance respects him ten-fold.

“I understand. My family wasn’t fully accepting, and it really dug a wrench between me and my parents when I moved to America to go to the Garrison. And the arguments I had with them before the Kerberos mission? They sucked. A lot. I hate that that’s the last thing I might’ve ever said to them, but life moves on, and so do we.” Shiro places a hand on Lance’s knee. “We focus now on developing and bettering ourselves. To where we can do what needs to be done, to where we can handle whatever obstacles come our way.”

Lance smiled, quickly standing.

“You’re right, Shiro. Sorry for emotionally dumping on you, by the way.” he scratched the back of his neck as Shiro stood.

“It’s okay, Lance. It was nice to just… talk for a minute. It helped, in some odd way.” his smile made Lance relax, realizing his blabbling had eased Shiro’s mind. When the man yawned, Lance nodded.

“I’ll let you get some rest.” Lance turned, but froze when he felt a metal arm wrap around his back, Shiro’s other hand cupping the back of his head to push his face against his chest. Wow, Shiro gave amazing hugs. Lance breathed, and if he focused enough, the cool metal sorta felt like his dad’s arm, the whole embrace reminded him of his father, and Lance gulped. “If you need anything, I’m right down the hall.”

Shiro nodded, easing out of the hug. Lance left with a small smile. With determination in his step, Lance headed to his room, opting instead to keep walking, headed back to the Observation deck. Allura had since gone to bed, but Lance activated the star map. Huffing, Lance stretched out his arms, popping his joints in several places before swiping through the digitized galaxies.

He had a red paladin to find.


	5. Is This Homesickness?

It was a cool Saturday morning, and Shiro had Keith park his hoverbike and get on the back of his own, warning him to hold on tight.

“If it helps, you can just watch for now.” Shiro said, before revving the engine of his hoverbike. Keith bit back a yelp when he watched the man drive straight off the cliff, feeling turbulence and wind whip under his jacket. 

At the bottom if the cliff, Shiro parked and looked behind him where Keith held a deathgrip to his jacket. 

Keith became obsessed. Perfecting that trick meant everything to him; if he could nail the jump, that meant he was one step closer to fulfilling Shiro’s position. He had that much better of a chance to actually do something with his life. When he finally made the jump, he hesitated before telling Shiro. He waited for Shiro to ask for them to ride before he told him and even then, he just followed right behind Shiro all the way down instead of warning him of his actions. The look on his face was priceless, pure shock cloaked his features, and Keith laughed about it for probably a few moments too long, but he didn't care. He was having fun. 

Shiro had dragged him back to the Garrison late that night shaking his head with a smile, “If you’re gonna actually ride the bike, you’ll need the proper equipment.” he had said as he pulled a box from under his and Adam’s mattress. 

Keith liked Adam. He was lean, pretty, and kept Shiro in check, and Keith appreciated it greatly.  He began brief conversation with him when Shiro interrupted, pushing the box in Keith's unexpecting arms. 

When he opened it, there were piles of gloves, a red jacket and two helmets. Keith gulped. 

“Keep it, bud.” Shiro ruffled his hair, sending him off to his quarters for the night. 

Keith wore that red jacket religiously, and one of his few regrets in life was that he didn't take it with him on his venture with the Blade of Marmora. Part of him regrets leaving in the first place. 

Part of Keith regrets leaving behind so many things. 

 

\---

 

It was another week before Keith was able to actually get out of bed, and was granted the chance to take a shower, however Luis stood right outside the door, in case Keith's legs gave out or he needed help. 

“Don't get too comfy, you have exactly 22 minutes and 49 seconds before the water goes freezing on you.” Luis called through the cracked door. 

Keith peeled off the black morph suit underneath, and tilted his head. 

“Why such a specific number?” it was odd, talking to these people, there was a sort of familiarity in their conversations. 

“Living here for nearly 27 years you learn how long you can take a shower for.”

Well, Keith couldn't argue with that. He carefully climbed over the lip of the shower that forms a tub, and eased himself into the beating water. 

A low groan escaped his mouth, and couldn't even bother to be embarrassed. It had been so long since he had taken an actual shower, an Earth shower, and he started counting the minutes. 

Once he turned off the water and carefully stood out of the shower, Keith put on a blue t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants that the Sanchez’s let him borrow, and sat there, looking at the blurred blob of himself in the fogged mirror. Blue shirts, blue sheets, a warm loving family, Keith couldn't help but think Lance would love it here. 

Honestly, he really missed Lance. Keith had left for the Blade of Marmora, trying to figure so much out at one time, and when he met up with Lance to sneak into a galran fleet, he couldn't help the tug in his chest; a sort of Home vibe, because that's what Lance was. Home. That's what all of Voltron was to Keith, and learning about Kuron on that mission had shredded the two of them, emotionally and mentally. Lance had tried to keep Keith calm, but the truth became overwhelming even for him, and Keith never wants to hear Lance cry ever again. 

“Keith? Buddy? You in there?” Luis was tapping on the door. 

“U-Uh yea, I’m- I’ll be out in a second.” Keith cursed how his words cracked over the lump in his throat. 

He opened the door, staggering down the hall. Luis was quick to grab onto his arm to keep from falling down the stairs. As much as he hated to, Keith gripped onto Luis’s shoulder. On the walls of the stairwell there were frames everywhere, like a family would do, filled with portraits of all their family members and people they’ve interacted with and loved and cared about. 

Keith kept his head down. He’s intruded on this family more than enough, he won't disturb their memory lane too. 

When they made it down the steps, Rosa was the first to notice them. Keith never registered just how small she was until she bound towards them, knocking herself into his hip. Oh- she was hugging him. Right. Keith awkwardly wrapped his arms loosely around Rosa’s curly hair, or as efficiently as he could with Luis still supporting most his weight. 

“Hey! That's Tio’s shirt. Huh? Uncle L-” Keith winced as Rosa started poking at his chest. 

“Alright, Rosa, run along. Let him stand.” Marco leaned against the doorframe from the kitchen, reaching towards her. 

Rosa huffed and waddled away, calling for Veronica as she entered the kitchen. 

Keith took it as his cue to pull away from Luis, and tried to follow Rosa on uncertain steps. He tripped briefly, but after stabilizing himself on the wall, he was set. Keith thanked any lifeforce out there for his Galran genes, they're the only reason Keith heals as fast as he does. 

It was the first time Keith joined the household for breakfast, a nice switch up from toast to pancakes, usually Luis or Marco- not Rosa, she dropped the tray on Keith's ribs and heard some not so choice words- will bring him a tray, but he forgot just how many people were under this roof. 

At the head of the table was who Keith assumed was Rosa’s dad, and it teetered down to Veronica, Rosa, and who Keith guessed was Veronica, Luis and Marco’s mother, and on the other side was a much older woman, and Luis next to Keith, and Marco sat at the end. 

“Keith this is our mom, Salene, and our GranGran.” Luis gestured down the line. “And that's Carlos, Roni’s hubby.” 

“So, Keith, you were able to get out of bed, that's surely an improvement.” Veronica looked from Carlos to him, and he flushed under the sudden snap of attention. 

“Yea I uh… heal pretty quickly.” Keith took a bite of the pancakes and had to physically keep himself from slumping and moaning. Anything was better than food goo, but this? These were heavenly. 

“So what part of Varadero are you from?” Carlos asked, cutting his pancake. 

“I-I’m well… uh…” Keith glanced around the table, and noticed most everyone staring expectantly, pardon Marcos and Rosa. 

“He’s not from around here, Car.” Marcos supplied, and Carlos sent a confused glance his way. 

“Didn't you hear him? The man said he’s healed, he can certainly speak for himself.” 

It wasn't meant to be malicious, it was just an observation. But that didn't stop Marcos from snapping back. 

“Yea and I’m telling you the answer myself because I certainly can.”

“Guys, really?” Veronica rolled her eyes. Keith gulped. 

“Not my fault Carlos’ face looks like his neck threw up.” Marcos leaned forward, as did Carlos. 

“Yea well your mamá still picks out your Sunday outfits.” Carlos snarled. 

“Your shirt is dumb!”

“Your hands are weird!”

And then the room fell silent. Keith could feel nervous sweat build on the back of his neck. The tension was so thick in the air he could barely breathe. And then, Luis busted into laughter, and the rest joined him. It's family banter, Keith reminded himself. He was familiar with this, him and Lance bickering all the time, and just like their dynamic, this family had an… odd way of displaying their connection. Keith relaxed slightly, feeling the warm familiarity in the atmosphere, which quickly morphed into Keith’s second feeling of homesickness since his strange arrival. His surroundings swirled from the laughing Sanchez’s to a memory of a few days after Keith returned to Voltron, with a mark on his face and a mother at his side.

 

\---

 

He walked in on the scene in the training room with nothing but pure shock overriding his thoughts. Lance was in the center of the room, twisting and turning his blaster towards the Gladiator as it inched closer and closer. Smaller drones had started to surround him, and Keith realized Lance was working on a level more difficult than he remembered-or got to, at least. From the looks of it, Lance wasn't too aware of it when he started either. 

As he shot the Gladiator’s arm, the drones began spinning faster and faster. Keith started running towards him, when suddenly Lance let out a cry, and blue light flashed, and there were sounds of metal on metal. In instants the Gladiator was beheaded, the drones cut in half. Keith nearly tripped over his own two feet, gasping at the sight of Lance arched with a sword hanging over his head. Lance was quick to turn and throw the sword in Keith's direction, which he only barely managed to dodge. 

“Lance! It's me, Keith!” Keith threw his hands up, surrendering to the boy in front of him. 

He watched as Lance’s eyes went from glossed over to incredibly wide, a flush of embarrassment spreading like wildfire up his neck. 

“Keith! Hey buddy, what's up?” Lance chuckled nervously, “Wait did I almost hit you? Did I  _ actually _ hit you? Are you okay?” his hands were running over Keith's body, checking his shoulders and sides before Keith grabbed him by the wrists. 

“I’m fine, Lance. But word to the wise, never throw your sword at your opponent unless you're absolutely sure it’ll hit. Otherwise you're basically handing yourself over to them.” Keith looked back to where the red sword laid strewn on the floor. 

He walked over and picked it up, “Odd, I didn't know you were a swordsman.” Lance rubbed the back of his neck as he walked up closer behind him. 

“I didn't know you were in here.”

Keith didn't recognize the form, but felt a pang of… something in his stomach when the sword molded itself into the sword he was used to handling. 

“How did you make it like that? The sword before this?” Keith angled it up to the light as Lance slid his hand under his, gently pulling the bayard away.  

“I dunno, I was just training in here one day, and it just suddenly,” the sword morphed back into the version Lance had been working with. “did that. Allura said it was-or, I mean it  _ is _ an Altean broadsword? Whatever that means.”

“Lance, that’s awesome! You unlocked something in your bayard.” Keith laughed, and clapped him on the back. 

Lance shot him a confused glance. “What do you mean  _ my  _ bayard?” Keith returned an equally confused look.

“It’s- What? You’re piloting Red still, right?” Was that not true anymore? Was Lance not in Red anymore? Who is?

“Nonononono, I still pilot Red, obviously. But he’s not- it’s not  _ my  _ bayard, or  _ my  _ lion. Red still has a much stronger-and well suited- bond with you, Keith.” Lance fiddled with the tip of the sword in his hands, and Keith’s chest felt a slight ache. It’s not wrong, Keith still felt Red flicker across their wavelengths while with the Blade of Marmora, but he assumed Lance would still feel Blue every now and then, since he figured he could go back to her when Shiro- _ Kuron  _ arrived.

So is Lance expecting Keith to take back Red? Their conversation from months ago came to mind in Keith’s bedroom. Lance really believed he wasn’t a permanent member, didn’t he?

“Your intended bayard or not, you’re wielding it now.” Keith tugged Lance back towards the center of the training deck. “Although I’ll show you a few moves, if you want.”

Keith chalked up Lance’s red cheeks to nerves.

 

\---

 

“Earth to Keith! Hello?” Luis waved a hand in front of Keith’s face, snapping him back to attention.

“H-Hey, yeah. Sorry I just zoned out for a second.”  The concern on Luis’ face was unnervingly familiar.

“You sure you’re feeling okay, dude? You’re still trying to recover.”  Luis started running his hand over the side of his face, just as Lance did in the training room not weeks ago. Keith felt a chill run down his spine as he jerked his head to the side.

“Fine, thanks.”

The entire table watched him. Watched as Keith felt his skin crawl and he decided he needed to leave this family as soon as he could, he had a family of his own to return to. 

Keith wondered how they were faring, if Voltron hadn’t just slotted Shiro back in the black lion and moved on. They wouldn’t do that, Keith reminded himself.  No matter how much he bashed his own worth, the team always had their reasoning for including someone. They integrated part of themselves in Keith, how Hunk asks questions before diving into a situation, how Pidge evaluates the situation and digs as much research up as she can before making conclusions. It was in the way Coran taught him how to make anybody family, how Allura displayed strength in her weakest moments. How Shiro was a strong leader, always ready to do what was necessary. 

He was taught by Lance how to love. How to truly welcome anybody and everybody, in the way he always has his back, Lance always supports him and keeps him in check. 

Keith realized belatedly that he… _really_ missed Lance. Of course he missed everyone, Lance included, but he was genuinely upset about losing Lance. When he left for the Blade of Marmora, it was easy to forget everything he came from, leaving past experiences as they were; in the past. Once he had a moment to actually sit and think however, he realized he missed the loud laughs, the casual side hugs, the forever looming protection and concern. 

The table in front of him somehow felt isolating, and he physically felt the barrier between himself and these humble strangers. To this family, he was a stranger, someone who needed help and they took him in with welcome arms. 

Keith excused himself for the night, thanking them for the meal. As he shut the door to the blue room he resided in, sleep pulled at his body, making his joints ache and movement sluggish. Flopping on the bed, he felt like the scent was familiar. 

As a fleeting thought, Keith wondered if Lance would like it here. He hoped so. But first Keith slept, genuinely went to bed for the first time in an embarrassingly long while. 


	6. Frantic Memories

Wake up, visit Haggar’s cryopod, check on Shiro, train with the team, try to sleep, repeat. 

This had been Lance’s mantra for the past two weeks. He was currently on the “Visit Haggar’s cryopod” part, hand clenched against the cool glass keeping the witch frozen. 

Lance knew he shouldn't be here, couldn't help but feel like he was doing nothing but repeating Shiro's mistake with Sendak, which was a major factor as to why Lance would check on him after Haggar. To see if he could catch Shiro slipping the way he knew he would himself, eventually. 

The last time a Galran enemy had been encased in the castle was during the corruption from the galran crystal, and Lance physically shuddered recalling how many times he nearly died just by standing somewhere. His mind remembered how horribly shaken Shiro appeared when he and the others finally got to him, how nervous and… purely terrified he was before Keith had talked to him. 

Lance’s handprint fogged over Haggar's face, and sighed. Why does everything come back to Keith?  _ Keith  _ helped Shiro when he was slipping into the deep end,  _ Keith  _ had discovered he was part of the very race Voltron was supposed to be fighting against and decided to join a force that allowed him to utilize that while still fighting against the Galra,  _ Keith  _ had set out to learn more about himself and had,  _ Keith  _ had found his mother,  _ Keith  _ had come back to Voltron,  _ Keith _ had reinforced Lance’s skills and helped him improve,  _ Keith  _ had saved Lance’s life and for all he knows  _ Keith- _

Keith could be dead. He could be gone, or worse, he's in the hands of the Galra themselves, and he's been relentlessly tortured. Keith had donned a scar on his face from Kuron in intense battle, the thought of him gaining more and unable help himself made Lance feel nauseous. 

It took too long to realize he had been crying, too long to see through blurry eyes how his hands shook, how-

How Haggar's eyes were glowing. Shit. 

Suddenly, Lance saw himself during the battle in which Haggar died, however it wasn't through his own perspective. It was as if Lance was watching the story unfold from another member’s memory, but he couldn't figure out who. Lance watched his Memory Self charge at his current point of view, and an unsettling feeling itched at the back of Lance’s mind when he realized he was watching things from Haggar's perspective. 

He heard faint whisperings, and suddenly Lance saw nothing but his family back on Earth, his home in Veredara, and Lance physically pushed himself backwards. He snapped out the facade when his back hit the floor. Brushing himself off, Lance stood and bolted out the room, deciding to skip checking in on Shiro for today. 

 

\---

 

“Red Paladin? Do you copy?” 

He quickly rounded the corner, opening the gate for the Blade of Marmora to slip through undetected. 

“Roger,” Lance entered the main control room of the galran ship, scanning over security cameras. “You guys have incoming up in this intersection, proceed with caution.”

He watched as three Blade members snuck down the hall, taking out the two Galran sentries at a post not far from the sentries Lance took care of before entering. 

The doors slid open behind him, and the three Blade members entered. 

The smallest phased their mask, revealing black hair and a small smile. 

“Hey Keith” Lance laughed and took in Keith's appearance. His time with the Blade of Marmora definitely helped him gain more muscle, but what stood out the most was his posture. He stood more dignified and- holy shit, is Keith taller?

“Hey Lance.” He smiled wider. 

“So you're Lance” another Blade member stood behind Keith, and they had a good foot or so of height over him. Their mask phased to reveal… Keith. If he were tall, purple, and a girl.

“The one and only, what’s your name?” Lance held out his hand.

“Lance, this is Krolia, Krolia, Lance.” Keith chimed in, stepping through the two of them and knocking down Lance’s hand.

“Woah, you two look alot ali-”

“Everyone, you may want to see this.” the largest Blade member effectively cut Lance off, exposing Kolivan’s sturdy face. 

They huddled around the monitor, where the downloading process had begun to glitch out, trying to reject the Marmora’s programming. 

Lance groaned, “Where's Pidge when you need her?”

“We can fix it, but we're going to need more time.” Keith suggests, and Kolivan grunted. 

“This isn't part of the plan, we should leave.”

Krolia straightened her back, and frowned at the screen. “How would we fix this? The programming isn't comprehensive.”

“Kolivan, redirect the route through another coding filter, and try again. Keith and I can keep watch. It might not even be a detour but we have to act now, there’s only so much time before the sentries are back online .” Lance pinched his chin in thought, before looking over the screens. 

Kolivan begrudgingly listened, and during the process about four new security windows opened to the monitor. Lance heard Keith more than he felt his hand grabbing at his arm. 

“What's going on there?” he pointed to a screen where three cloaked figures stood around a cell door. They were kicking random things inside, plates, broken metal, any debris littered around. 

“Turn on audio.” Lance leaned onto the counter, enlarging the footage. 

One of the cloaked figures outstretched to the cell. A bloodcurdling scream filled the room as it was covered with electricity. Lance gulped. 

_ “We’ll ask one more time” _ one of the figures spoke.  _ “Are you going to work alongside with the Galran Empire, under Haggar's rule, to take down Voltron and any aiding alliances.” _

Nothing was heard from the prisoner, and Lance felt curiosity and dread flood his mind.

_ “If you do not tell us now, we will know in time.  Do not forget we have method of ‘checking in’’ with Voltron. Kuron is alive and very, very active.” _

Another cloaked figure- they were Haggar’s witches, if Lance had to guess- electrocuted the cell. Kolivan quickly stood, confirming he downloaded everything he needed.

“We need to leave.” he spoke, glancing at the monitor. “Now.”

Krolia was already logging out of security footage and pulling Lance and Keith away from the screen. They left the control room as unnoticed as they had entered, and crawled through the vents trying to reach outside where a galran pod, that had been modified to suit the Blade of Marmora’s needs, was parked waiting for them. 

They passed an open vent in the room of the prisoner, Keith pausing briefly, causing him to nearly kick Lance in the face behind him. With a flick to his boot he was moving again, but he seemed more… stiff. Lance looked out the vent to see the palm of a metal hand lain outside the cell wall, the rest of the cage hidden in the shadows. 

“Shouldn't we rescue the prisoner in there? Obviously they're linked to Voltron in some way, and they might know what ‘Kuron’ is.” Lance spoke once they had reached the pod. The only thing keeping him from jumping out the vent was the sturdy push from Krolia behind him, and Lance had started feeling guilty about not doing anything sooner. Guilty and… suspicious, maybe. Something in his gut was telling him not to leave without them, but he was well aware of the Blade of Marmora’s “mission before the man” mantra. 

“Lance, we- we can't. We came here for discreet information, and starting a new mission with no backup plan or any solidity to it hinders the rescue mission useless.” Krolia gave him a grim stare, and Lance squirmed under the intensity. 

“But if the Galra have a way to look inside of Voltron, to actually check in on what we're doing, we need to figure out what's going on. Kuron could be anything, a virus, a spy, or even a misorder of certain products but if it's aiding the Galra in taking us down as easily as they have been, then we need to figure this out. Not to mention, they're a prisoner, unguarded, being tortured.” Lance’s mind flipped to Shiro. “Nobody trying to help deserves that kind of treatment.”

“Paladin, we had a mission, we still need to finish it. We cannot jeopardize this over one prisoner who is aware of Voltron. We will discuss later once we have returned to the Blade of Marmora Hub, and you are returned to your lion.” Kolivan grabbed Lance by his arm, forcing him into the Galran pod. 

Keith followed suit, Krolia huffed behind him, and Lance almost laughed at the identical glares they had at opposite corners of the floor, how they both frowned the same and crossed their arms with their hands tucked in fists the same-

“Man, what is she, your mom?” Lance joked, and Krolia coughed while Keith visibly stiffened. 

“...Yeah. She is.” Keith stepped away from Krolia, walking towards the front of the pod. 

Lance whipped his neck towards him so quickly he felt a small pop, but Keith had his back to him. An incredulous look crept over Lance’s face as he looked between Keith and Krolia, letting the puzzle pieces fall into place. It was a quiet ride back to the Hub. 

 

\---

 

With a quick pivot of his feet, Lance twisted and cut the head of the gladiator clean off, and deactivated the sword on the red bayard. 

“End training sequence.” He called to no one, and wiped his face with the bottom of his shirt. 

“Hey, come on Lance. It's time to eat.” Hunk popped his head in, and walked Lance to the kitchen. It was quiet, like back in the galran pod with Krolia- Keith's  _ mom _ . Like something needed to be said, he felt like he definitely should be saying something, but no words came to mind. Only that he didn't want to waste time in the kitchen, he needed to train and plan and _ find Keith.  _

The table looked terrible. Everyone was sat down, and Lance noticed the empty chair next to his all too well. He wasn't used to it, Lance refused to get used to it. But the way plates of food goo were pushed aside for Pidge to hunch over her computer, or maps and charts were sprawled out at the end of the table with Allura and Shiro hunched over them, the way Coran refused to stop running around, cleaning everything in sight. Lance looked to Hunk, who was taking in the room, and saw him bite his lip and turn his head. 

Curse Hunk and his stupid caring heart, but man Lance didn't think he could love his friend more. In the midst of all the chaos and distraught, here was Hunk; a kid trying to get his friends together. 

Lance cleared his throat. “Thank you, Hunk.” He placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, the rest of the room looking his way at the sudden splice in the silence. Pidge’s eyes followed down the table where the plates of food had been pushed aside. Allura and Shiro glanced at each other before slowly reaching for their own plate. Coran smiled at him, before nodding and carrying on with sweeping the already clean floor. 

“Yeah, thanks dude.” Pidge said with a full mouth. 

And even though Keith was missing and there was a horrible imbalance at the table, everyone managed to soldier on with a full stomach and a small smile. 

 

\---

  
  


Lance tossed and turned momentarily in his bed, not quite allowing himself to open eyes because that would be accepting defeat to his mind that night. It was late, Lance couldn't settle on an exact estimate but he knew nobody was awake. Sitting up, he bypassed his robe and slippers, opting to just brave the cool tile of the castle for his nightly walk. Him leaving his room at such an ungodly hour had become a terrible routine, and Lance couldn't break it no matter how hard he had tried. He either left his room, or-

Or the room swallowed him whole, shoving him further and further down, doubts hissing into his ear that he's not doing enough- that  _ he's not enough _ and he can't save Keith. He'll never save Keith. At this point, Keith is probably  _ dead _ and it's  _ all Lance's fault- _

So yeah, Lance leaves his room at night.

Finding himself in the Observatory Deck once again, Lance huffed. He thought back to his and Allura's conversation- an interaction that felt like it took place months ago, even though it was only last week- about the Altean custom of stars and making wishes. Lance brought up the 3D map of stars, swiping and swiping for an hour until he found what he was looking for; the Milky Way Galaxy.

He paused at the sight of Earth's sun, so many memories tied to it and the planets in its orbit. He looked at where Orion was, honing in on Orion's belt before remembering the night of his sister's wedding- Veronica and her groom, Carlos.

\---

The wedding had taken place in the backyard of their house, because where else, right? He had been sent inside along with Luis after the two had ganged up against Veronica, chucking pieces of the cake their mother slaved over for 13 hours at the bride, and was sitting in his room, messing with a left-over bag of glow-in-the-dark stars. Luis was killing time at his desk, using the old sketchbook he kept wedged in between it and the wall, doodling.

"Why do you have such a hard-on for space?" Luis had mumbled, tossing his toy rocket from the desk at him, effectively making him drop the stars and take a spaceship to the face.

"Do you hear half the shit Rachel talks about? The Garrison sounds fucking awesome, dude.” Lance enthused, propping a hand under his head, steering the toy spaceship in the air above him. “You hear her too, how do you not?”

Luis tilted his head, tapping his chin for a moment. “Because why would I care?”

Lance gasped, bolting upright to gape at him.

“Why would you care? How could you not? There’s so much out there that we don’t know about! They’re preparing to go to Kerberos! That’s so far out there, and yet it’s- it’s not. It’s so much more than we know, but it’s only the edge of our solar system. Even traveling to Andromeda would be a long-shot in our lifetime, but could you imagine? What planets lie beyond? What’s-”   
“Damn, forget I asked.” Luis huffed, throwing his pen at Lance. “Besides, the ocean is much cooler. All the plant life down there, any other forms of life down there that we don’t know about. Why waste time in the sky when we can find out so much more about the land around us?”

Lance groaned. He was  _ so  _ not getting into this again.

“We have forever to do either, but I wanna travel to space!”

“You two arguing about this shit again?” Marcos was hanging in the door-frame, his tie slightly crooked, hair unnaturally slicked over into a part.

“Whatcha want, Marco.” Luis glared at him, earning a light flick to his ear.

“Mom needs help downstairs moving the table back into the garage, and I don’t feel like doing it,” Marco sat next to Lance on the bed, throwing an arm over his shoulder, pulling him in tight. Lance’s necktie began to strangle him a bit more. “But luckily for me, you two knuckleheads dunked on Veronica. So as redemption, guess who gets to carry the table!”

Luis groaned, and Lance pushed on Marco’s chest.

“Hey, watch the flower, buddy.” Marco laughed, adjusting the vibrant rose stuffed in his chest pocket.

“You hate flowers anyways, what’s a little collateral damage gonna do?” Luis draped a leg over the back of Lance’s wooden chair, resting his chin on his knee.

“It’s for Roni’s wedding which, in case you two knuckleheads forgot, you totally ruined.” Marco stood, heading out Lance’s room. “Come on, guys. It’s Redemption Time.”

Lance had never lifted something so heavy in his entire life. While the table itself was just plastic, what Marco conveniently left out was all the food was still on it, and he and Luis had to maneuver around the house to get the table inside, out of the heat without dumping the contents on the floor.

Veronica had chewed their ears off the entire time, complaining about how “not even the drier can get these stains out, te voy a matar !” Lance just nodded, figuring Veronica wouldn’t actually kill them, but Luis would fire right back, threatening “ Cállete el stupido elephante .”

The shriek that followed resonated all throughout the house, and the two were in an all-out shouting match, Veronica infuriated for Luis and Lance’s idiocracy and total childish behavior, Luis yelling that she was bitching over them trying to have fun.

“You two are babies! Children! Chico tonto! You’re such a little kid!” Veronica was getting in Luis’s face, her veil falling out the tight braid of her hair.

“If you can’t manage  _ us  _ just having  _ fun _ , what are you gonna do about the baby in your stomach?” Luis yelled, inching closer to Veronica. She effectively stilled.

Lance was holding his breath, Veronica and Luis’ arguments got intense sometimes and he knew when to take a step back, but what was Luis talking about?

“Veronica?” Lance queried “Are… Are you pregnant?”

Veronica didn’t face him, her head hung down. “How do you know?”

“Found the test in the trash after you bolted in the bathroom to puke.” Luis stared over her head, and Lance followed his gaze to where Carlos stood tense, ready to separate the two if need be.

“You tell noone about this.” Veronica looked around the room, locking eyes with Lance. “Nobody.”

Lance had nodded, because what else is there to do in that situation? 

The rest of the night was filled with an odd tension, Luis and Veronica never in the same room together.

After the reception and Veronica and Carlos had left for their honeymoon to the shoreline of Varadero, Lance had taken a shower and changed out of the baby blue button-up that had strangled him. He opened the window in his room, climbing out onto the roof. The sky was clear, the stars visible and bright. Lance breathed. He wondered if Rachel -his other sister- could see the sky as well as he could even though she was in America. She felt so terrible about missing Veronica’s wedding, but the price of tickets and the unlikeliness of her being able to get leave time from the Garrison- Rachel didn’t make it.

Hearing soft footsteps behind him, Lance looked back, seeing Marco crouching over to him.

“Heard you come out here, wanted to check on you. Veronica and Luis really got into it today, and you had to just watch. How're you holding up?” Lance appreciated how thoughtful Marco was, vowed to try to be just as much himself.

“I’m fine, at least it didn’t get violent this time.” There were caulked-over holes in the walls that proved the two weren’t always civil in their arguments. “I still feel weird without Rachel here.”

Marcos huffed. “You two were always closer than the rest of us. Did anyone call?”

“Yeah, she called Veronica earlier, and Ma called her to give her a full update.” Lance propped his hand under his head, looking over the stars. He easily made out the constellations, a hobby he and Rachel shared.

“Is that why she went missing for three hours?” 

Lance cackled. 

“The odds are high.” And it was left at that. 

“You and Rachel would come out here all the time.” Marco seemed to always know what Lance was thinking. 

“We did share a room.” Lance shrugged. 

Marco stretched, laying down next to him. “Alright, smartass.”

Lance appreciated Marco, probably much more than he knew, and Lance was determined to live up to his oldest brother's hype. 

\---

“Damn it, Marco. What do I do?” Lance whispered into his hands, crouched in front the map. Lance couldn't help but think Rachel would love Voltron, would love everything he’s been doing, and one day he’s gonna share his journey with her. He’ll see her again. He’ll see Rachel along with Marco and Luis, run to Veronica and Carlos and little Rosa, see his GranGran again, hang out with his dad. Lance will hug his mom again. 

He’d find Keith. Marco never turned his back on family, was always there to help. Lance was going to do the same, because that's what Keith was. 

Keith was his family now, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some translations:  
> "te voy a matar!" - "I'm gonna kill you!"  
> “Cállete el stupido elephante.” - "Shut up you stupid elephant."  
> "Chico tonto!" - "Stupid boy!"


	7. Understanding

The day Keith returned to Voltron was unlike anything he had ever prepared himself for. Kolivan had informed him that he’d be returning with Voltron momentarily, to see if the Blade could catch onto whatever “Kuron” was. The only paladin to know of the real reasoning besides Keith was Lance, and the others had been told it was because Keith wasn’t needed in any missions, and they had been pestering him to return for some time now.

So that led to Keith frantically knocking on Lance’s door at 2:47 in the castle’s assumed morning.

On maybe the thirteenth knock(thirteenth and a half, Keith was half-way down on making the fourteenth. Good thing Lance had improved his reflexes or else he would’ve been punched in the face), Lance opened the door. Sleep glazed his eyes and the light of his mp3 faintly glowed the background of his room, giving Lance a slight halo to accent his features. Keith would’ve found it beautiful and breathtaking had he not been on the brink of an anxiety attack.

“L-Lance. I know. I know what it is. And frankly, holy shit.” Keith could only stare into Lance’s blue eyes, fear ebbing at himself at the edge of every consonant. He barely felt Lance grab his arm and pull him into his room, and allowed himself to become wrapped in Lance’s arms for a moment. 

“Alright, Keith. What’s up?” He felt a pang of guilt when hearing the roughness of Lance’s sleepy voice, but swallowed before speaking.

“How the Galra keep checking in.” Keith looked around, inspecting Lance’s room. He noticed the gaming console spread on the floor, even allowed himself to swipe a finger on the top, leaving a trail of dust in his wake. “Kuron is a spy.”

Lance’s breath hitched, and Keith looked his way. He had wandered to the other end of the room, pacing about, and from where he stood he saw Lance’s shoulders tense.

“Where are they?” Lance whispered, suddenly taking in his surroundings as well.

Keith bit his lip. Heaved a sigh. Fought back tears.

“W-Well… It’s Shiro.” He gulped. Lance cocked his head incredulously.

“The spy… is Shiro?” Lance had the audacity to laugh. “The guy’s had a hard time lately, but I seriously doubt he’d go so far as to infiltrate the very team he leads and hand them over to the universe’s most over looming threat.”

Keith gripped at Lance’s shoulders. “Don’t you get it, Lance? I thought it was odd the spy was named ‘Kuron’. That’s a Japanese word. Why would the Galra know a Japanese word? Kuron translates to ‘clone’. Not to mention, I know Shiro. He can have his moments, yes. He doesn’t always give credit where it’s due, and he has snapped at you too many times for comfort. I’ve noticed. The team noticed. Why is he suddenly befriending Lotor, the guy who literally tried to kill us on several occasions? For what? That, we still don’t know. Kuron is working with him in order to let Lotor get higher in power, to where by the time we catch onto their ruse, Lotor is too powerful for us to stop him.”

Lance hummed. “Okaaaay, new question. If Lotor is the mastermind behind Kuron, how did he do it? And more importantly, where is Shiro?”

Keith was walking circles around the video game console  in Lance’s room when he suddenly stopped, his back to Lance. He turned to face him, eyes wide.

“Lance.”

“...Keith?”

“Lance. Lance  _ holy shit _ .” Keith was grabbing at Lance’s wrist, pulling him into a stance. “Shiro was the prisoner we saw. The one being attacked by the druids! We saw him, and  _ left him behind. _ Shit! You were right, I knew we shouldn’t have just- just  _ left _ .”

Lance furrowed his eyebrows, his heart racing a mile a minute. 

“Keith, please calm down for just a second. That guy might’ve been Shiro, yeah. Theoretically, that guy could’ve been  _ anyone _ . But the druids are Haggar’s dogs, and Lotor, in case you haven’t noticed, literally fucking despises her.” Keith tilted his head at him.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

Lance felt a lump build in his throat. Haggar is a witch, and has done some pretty powerful shit before… 

“I-If Kuron is a clone version of Shiro- which sounds crazy enough- I don’t think Lotor’s behind it.”

“But then why would Shiro be so willing to work with him? He should know better-”

“If he works with Lotor, and Haggar has some sort of insight to everything Kuron does, not only is she creeping on us, but she has a 24/7 nanny cam on Lotor, too.” Lance groaned. “She’d be killing two birds with one stone.”

Keith growled, and kicked the console, shattering it. 

“Hey now!” Lance was already across the room, pulling Keith close to him.

“I’m sorry, this isn’t fair. Shiro doesn’t deserve this-”  Keith was starting to sniffle through his words. Lance felt his shirt become wet. “And I’m sorry about your game, and we left him there. We left Shiro behind because we wanted some stupid fucking codes, and now Haggar has the jump on us. You guys have been planning battle strategies for months now. Wh-What are you gonna do? What are we gonna do? I-I’m sorry, I’m so fucking sorry.”

Lance shushed him and sat on the floor, pulling Keith into his lap, stroking his fingers through his hair. “It’s not your fault, Keith. You didn’t know. None of us did. We should’ve though, but you can’t solely take the blame here.” Lance gulped as Keith muffled his sobs further in his chest. “I-I’m sorry too. But no matter how sorry we feel, we still gotta fix this. We will fix this. We’ll get him back, Keith.”

The rest of the night Lance gently rubbed Keith’s back until he fell into a dreamless sleep.

 

\---

 

“Keith? You okay, buddy?” Keith woke up to piercing blue eyes over him, and he resisted the urge to wrap his arms around the boy’s neck and pull him into a hug, only realizing that no, it wasn’t Lance. Lance is in space right now, somewhere Keith needs to be.

Luis tilted his head, leaning back. “You were moving around a lot, didn’t know if you were having a bad dream or something.” he ceremoniously plopped down into the wooden chair that’s resided by Keith’s bed.

“Fine.” Keith whispered. Luis helped him out of bed and get ready for the day, with considerable ease compared to the previous days.

On their way down the stairs, Luis still insisted Keith used him as balanced support, wrapping Keith’s arm over his shoulder, Luis’ hand steadying him from the hip. Heading down, Keith let his curiosity get the better of him, and decided to look at some of the pictures scattered on the wall.

He smiled at one of Rosa being held on Marco and Luis’ shoulders, cheerleader style, wide mouthed and appearing to be yelling. Another was of Veronica and Carlos at their wedding, hands held and facing each other.

Keith eagerly looked at the next, another of Veronica and Carlos’ wedding, and Luis was chucking a piece of cake at Veronica with his brother-

Keith’s heart leapt to his throat, and abruptly tripped down the last few steps, just barely stopping himself from bashing his head into a drawer at the end.

“Keith!” Luis yelled, and Mrs. Sanchez rounded the corner at the sound of a thud. “Keith, are you okay?” 

“That-That’s… That was” Keith whispered into the floor. 

Mrs. Sanchez grabbed him by the arm, gently lifting him. “Careful, boy.” The warmth and utter concern in her eyes- her eyes. Blue. Too blue. Keith jerked back, looking at Luis. The way his brown hair curled slightly around his ears, so fucking similar to-

“Hey what happened?” Veronica rounded the corner, and Keith thought he was going to pass out. The way her hand was propped on her hip, the tilt of her head-

“Come, boy, sit.” Mrs. Sanchez tugged Keith towards the couch next to where Marco was watching Rosa, and suddenly her thick spanish accent was overbearing to him. “Veronica, water.”

They tried getting Keith to drink, but any time anyone reached out to him - _ just like he had that night _ \- he jerked back. He looked past them, where a shrine of smiling faces and beautiful blue eyes laid, some paper placed on the table next to it. A memorial.  He shook his head. 

“Keith, can you talk to us? What’s wrong?” Luis had crouched to enter Keith’s line of sight, and through his blurring vision and the thickness of his hair, he saw it. How could he be so fucking blind?

“H-Have. Have any of you ever heard of a boy named Lance McClain?” he whispered. He worried they wouldn’t hear him, that he’d have to ask again. But the silence that followed was deafening.

Veronica sucked back a breath. Rosa gasped.

“Tio! Uncle Lance! You know him?” She grabbed onto Keith’s shoulder, shaking him slightly. 

Keith had to physically restrain himself from jumping up.

“Rosa, sit for a second.” Marcos pulled her back.

Mrs. Sanchez -  _ Lance’s mother _ \- got on her knees, looking into Keith’s eyes. “How do you know him?” She almost sounded like she was begging.

“He- I- He was with me the day I left Earth.” Keith looked down at his hands. “He’s been in space for a very long time.” he concluded, more to himself than the gaping family in front of him.

Marcos stood, pointing at Keith. “How do we know you’re not just making up bullshit? How can we believe anything you say? What are you- a news reporter? Fuck off! Get out of our house, we don’t give a shit about your stupid conspiracies!” Marcos grabbed Keith by his shirt, dragging him towards the door.

“You don’t understand,  _ listen _ , please!” Keith was gripping at Marcos’ fist, and Luis and Veronica were yelling at him to let go. Their mother remained very still, kneeled in front of Keith’s empty seat.

“I don’t give a shit about how you try to explain yourself. We don’t fucking care.” Marcos went to open the door, and Keith pulled out his knife from the Blade, jamming it into the doorframe.

“M-Marcos, listen to me. I know your brother. Lance is my  _ friend _ . I know him, I know where he is!”

“You take your knife and get as far away from my family as you can, you monster.” Marcos tried to shove, but Keith shoved harder, pushing them both inside the house.

_ How could he make them understand? _

“He was in the Garrison, right? So was I. My name is Keith Kogane. Please, you don’t have to help me, but he’d want you to know where he is- what he’s been doing.” He had to do this. Lance was there for him, he was going to try and repay him.

“Keith Kogane died four years ago, along with my brother and two other students. Do you know a Hunk Garrett, too? Let me guess, he’s in space, along with a Pidge Gunderson.” Marcos stood, infuriated.

Keith growled. “I do know them! Them and one more, Takashi Shirogane! I am not lying to you. I promise.” Keith put his hands up.

“Yeah? Neither was the last guy knocking on our door claiming to be Pidge. Fuck off.”

“Marcos.” their mother spoke sternly, and she stood with a vigor that made Keith feel a tremble down his spine. “Let the boy speak.”

“Mom, you can’t be serious?” Marcos seemed ready to throw another punch, when Rosa perked up behind him.

“Is that knife glowing?”

Keith slowly inched out from Marco’s death glare, and approached Rosa, gently tugging the knife out the wooden frame.

Rosa tilted her head at him, and Veronica tried pulling her back.

“I’m not gonna hurt you, I promise.” Keith said, hands lingering in the air. 

“Is it true?” Mrs. Sanchez was quiet, and the way her eyes fixated on him reminded Keith so much of Lance it started pulling at his chest. “Do you know where my boy is?”

“Yes ma’am.”

Luis finally looked Keith in the eyes, his eyebrows creased just as Lance’s had when he suggested he stepped down from Voltron in Keith’s bedroom…

“Where?” He whispered.

“Far past the Milky Way Galaxy, further than anywhere our space centers on Earth could ever depict. He’s part of a team called Voltron, something I’m also in. You guys found me as a casualty of a battle with a powerful force named Haggar.” Keith looked around the room, and the longer he explained his story, Voltron, and how Lance was involved, the more the room seemed to ease it’s tension.

“Lance is someone I have worked beside for longer than I can remember. He was with me in the Garrison, and it’s ironic that he followed me into space. He’s such an important pillar in our team, in a small family we’ve created of our own, but I know he misses you all desperately. He talks about you guys all the time.” 

Mrs. Sanchez’s breath hitched, gripping into Luis’ sleeve, urging Keith to continue. “Go on, boy.”

“Rosa was young, much younger than she is now, and he would let her tie ponytails in his hair, no matter how hard she pulled. Luis and Carlos once snuck firecrackers under the tires Veronica’s car to scare her- it worked pretty well, given that she almost peed.” Veronica gasped, and Luis snorted. “Lance would talk about how his mother- you- gave the most welcoming and loving hugs, and would sing him lullabies at night.”

Mrs. Sanchez was wiping away tears, and Keith tried biting back his own. This wasn’t his family, but Lance was, and these people meant the world to him. If Keith can reassure these people, it would not only sane Lance, it would also put his family’s mind at ease.He turned to where Marcos was gripping at the table that held Lance’s memorial, tears drenching his face.

“And Marco? You did nothing but support his interests through and through, didn’t you? You brought him to the local pool when he asked, you taught him how to swim, you pushed him to enroll in the Garrison to follow Rachel’s footsteps, and he’s stressed on multiple occasions that it’s not your fault he vanished that night. It was a freak occurrence that nobody really expected. I’m so sorry you all experienced such unnecessary loss, but it’s possible to see him again.”

“How?” Marcos whispered, voice rough. Keith breathed.

“I need you to trust me.”


	8. Finding Leads

It was the third cycle of Lance checking in on Haggar after the last occurrence, and he reflected back to when Keith vanished. Lance flipped through the notes Pidge and Hunk had made on the battle, along with files on everything they knew about Haggar and her druids.

He was halfway through a file on how the druids presumably constructed their own version of cryopods when the door to the hallway slid open, and Shiro walked in. He froze seeing the stacks of books and Lance spread on the floor.

“Lance? Lance.” He ran up to him, gently grabbing at Lance’s shoulder with his new Altean hand. Shiro visibly darkened when he noticed Lance’s subtle flinch.

“Oh, hey Shiro.” Lance was trying not to look up from his reading.

Shiro sighed, before adjusting himself to sit down next to Lance, pushing files around him. He picked up the closest to him, flipping through it. Lance recognized it as the file on the battle strategies used during their fight with Haggar.

“Lance, what are you doing?” Shiro sounded concerned, but his face was disapproving. Lance groaned.

“Nothing. Something?” He gripped on his own documents. “Anything.”

“He’s out there, okay? We just have to find him. You guys found me, didn’t you? You can do the same for him.”

Lance took a deep breath, and another for good measure. Voice completely even, he spoke to Shiro, “We didn’t find you. You told us where you were and we followed. We couldn’t even tell that you were- that the man in the Black Lion wasn’t you.” He could feel pools of warmth gripping at the base of his throat, and white-hot thumping in the back of his head.

“Lance, it’s not your guys’s fault you didn’t know-”

“That’s the _problem_ , Shiro! We _didn’t know._ We _never fucking know_.” Lance stood abruptly, facing Haggar’s pod. “You-You could have died. You would’ve been dead and we wouldn’t have known because we weren’t quick enough to realize that you needed help.”

Shiro quietly got up from the floor. “Is that what this is about? Or are you worried you're missing something that could help you find Keith?”

Lance clenched his fists against the pod.

“This?” he looked at Haggar’s medically drunk eyes. “This- I, well, I don't know. I’m sorry Shiro, I’m so sorry we didn't find you sooner.”

Shiro put his hand on Lance’s shoulder, leveling their eyes. “Lance, it’s not your fault. I’m glad that you guys figured it out eventually, and I know the process wasn’t… kind to you. Beating yourself up over it now isn’t going to do anything, though.” Shiro squinted.

“If this is about Keith, we’ll find him. He’s never too far away, and we both know he lacks subtlety.” Lance couldn’t help but snort.

“You’re right, but we have no leads, no idea where he even is. He vanished, just like you did.” Lance looked away. He heard Shiro sigh, tightening his grip on Lance’s shoulder.

“It’s probably linked to Haggar, like I was linked to Zarkon. We just need to figure out how to gather more information. Should be a breeze, right?” Shiro was trying, and Lance appreciated it, but it was useless. Lance still felt like there was something more that should be done that just… wasn’t happening.

He failed Shiro that way once, he’s not about to do the same to Keith.

Lance placed a hand on Haggar’s pod. “Even if it’s not, we’re going to find Keith.” He was determined. He would find Keith. He had to.

Lance had closed his eyes, but the gasp from Shiro made him jerk away, and that’s when he noticed the yellow of Haggar’s eyes again.

“Oh shi-”

Suddenly, Lance heard the same whispers from before, and then saw his brothers at the park right down the street from where his house was in Varadero. A small girl- Rosa, his mind told him- was playing in the sandbox.

It seemed so real Lance assumed he was remembering forgotten memories. The possible memory cut out, swapping scenes to show his bedroom. The stars Rachel had stuck on the ceiling were still holding on tight, and Lance’s vision was blurry. Overhead was a shadowy figure, when his sight focused on the figure, he noticed the face almost instantaneously; Luis. He was speaking, and Lance tried to say something- anything, but no words came out. After a moment, his mouth formed words he wasn’t familiar with, and he realized his voice sounded off. He sounded like Keith.

The vision cut out, swapping instead to the sight of the bathroom in Lance’s house, mirror fogged but a hand reached in front of him, wiping away the moisture built up. Keith’s face stared back at him, head tilting without command. Several more sights swiped before his eyes in a moment; smiling faces, bloodied rags, his dinner table, Rosa, Lance’s room.

Lance reached his arm forward, feeling cool glass and aggressively pushed, falling backwards and out of the trance of… whatever that was. Lance was shaking, finding it hard to swallow. That was his family, his home. The tension in his throat matched the sturdy grip on his shoulder, reminding him of Shiro’s presence still holding onto him. He noticed Shiro was staring at him.

“Lance?”

Shiro released his shoulder, glancing at Haggar, who was seemingly asleep again.

“Did you see it too?” Lance had mixed feelings. He didn’t want to be insane or imagining things, but those were also private memories-probably. He really didn’t know why Keith was in his memories of his home, but the brain does wild things when stressed.

“Lance, I think we have a lead.” was all Shiro offered before grabbing his wrist and tugging him out towards the bridge of the Castle.

 

\---

 

“So when you placed your hand on Haggar’s pod, you saw different… memories?” Allura tilted her head.

“W-Well I think they're memories? The first one was our fight with Haggar, but it seemed almost like it was from her perspective, like it was-” Lance gulped. “Like it was _her_ memory.”

Allura hummed. “Well from what you said the whispering was, it sounded very similar to some of the Olkarian spells. It might be possible that these memories you're seeing are from Haggar’s spell.”

“But it hit Keith, not Lance.” Hunk questioned.

“Haggar was aiming for Lance, was planning on hitting him. When Keith jumped in the way, she hit him with the spell instead.” Pidge reasoned. “It just depends on what kind of magic that was.”

“It's a very difficult spell, but one I have no doubt Haggar would be able to manage. It kills the victim, essentially. However it lures them into a false sense of security, sends them… home before abruptly destroying their soul.” Allura looked at Lance, who had been unnervingly quiet. “If her plan was to kill you, and Keith got in the way, it is possible she sent Keith to wherever home is for you, and you killed her before she could hurt Keith.”

“So Keith is… on Earth.” Hunk looked around the room.

“Or like, mega dead.” Pidge muttered more to herself.

The memory of Rosa at the park, she looked so grown up, it must have been a memory through Keith’s eyes. That must have been the last sense of connection Haggar had to Keith before she died- or worse, before she could destroy Keith’s soul.

Lance felt like he was gonna be sick.

“Excuse me.” Lance pushed his way out of the room, moving between Hunk and Shiro, and once he was out he practically ran to Red.

Red immediately let him in, a sense of soothing warmth that pulled at Lance’s headache. He couldn't help it. Lance started crying. The past few weeks had been too stressful, and he hated how there was such a high tally on near-death experiences he's encountered in space.

Keith could be dead. Keith might be dead on Earth in front of Rosa, and Lance blamed himself. He should've been the one to go. It was a spell meant for him, wasn't it? Why was Keith having to suffer because of Lance? It wasn't fair.

Red suddenly stood and roared, flying outside the castle into space. Lance looked at the stars, wondering if Keith was able to see them too. If he was even still breathing to do so. Were the memories he saw earlier some kind of link between him and Keith? Was Lance seeing everything through Keith’s eyes, what all he was able to accomplish while everyone else was struggling to grab a lead? If he was alive, was actually in Lance’s house, Lance hoped Luis wasn't giving him a hard time. He had a tendency to make anyone uncomfortable, and if Keith managed to live, he shouldn't have to live through Luis’ torment.

Lance laughed to himself. He really hoped Keith was being treated well, but he knew he didn’t have much to worry about. At the end of the day, Keith would be safest with his family.

Lance breathed once, then twice.

They had a lead.


	9. Retrieval

The Sanchez family was gathered around their dinner table, each firing off their own questions about what was really going on. 

“So Lance is a fighter pilot in space?” Marcos asked, hands folded over the table. 

Keith nodded. “To put it lightly, yeah. He pilots a massive- bear with me. I know it's strange- a massive robotic lion.” 

“Are there massive robotic puppies to pilot too?” Rosa was bouncing with energy, and Keith smiled at her. 

“No, not quite.”

“So why a lion?” Marcos was tilting his head. 

Keith took a deep breath. “Basically, there are five of these robotic lions, each wired more like a fighter plane than an animal. However they're all sentient and bond with their paladin, which is what the pilots of the lions are called. The bond acts as a sort of mind meld with the paladins.”

“Are you a paladin?” Veronica asked.  

“Yeah, actually. When you guys found me I was wearing my paladin armor.” he explained. 

“So if the paladins have some sort of bond to these… not-lions, can't you find where it is? Can you mind-link your way to them?” Luis gestured in front of himself in a way Keith had seen Lance do a hundred times. 

“Well we-” Keith stopped. Processed what was just suggested. He looked to Luis. “No. I can't do that. But I might be able to reach out to the lions and have them find me.”

Keith abruptly stood, asking for a private space. Luis took him back to the room he had been staying in, but paused before closing the door. 

“You're Keith Kogane, in the flesh, huh?” Luis studied his face. 

“Uh, yes?” Keith felt the tension in his shoulders grow. 

“Funny. Lance always talked about getting you in his bedroom, bet he didn't imagine it would be like this.” Luis laughed to himself before closing the door. “Come downstairs when you're ready, Mullet Boy.”

Keith heard Luis’ laughter fade before turning around. Mortified, Keith realized he had been staying in Lance’s room. He looked in the mirror, the blue t-shirt that hugged his chest practically screamed Lance’s wardrobe. Keith was trying to keep his panic at bay. Tried to review over everything that just happened in the past forty five seconds. 

For one, Lance talked about him during the Garrison. Apparently he’s always had it out for Keith’s hair. Also, he wanted to get him in his bedroom- Keith couldn't even begin to unpack everything that implied. He had a mission. Contact the Black lion, maybe Red if he was lucky. 

Red, who was now piloted by Lance-

Keith  _ really _ needed to focus. 

He took a deep breath in, before closing his eyes and concentrating as best he could. Patience yields focus. Patience. Yields. Focus. 

_ Patience- _

 

\---

 

Keith had gone back to the Blade of Marmora the day after he and Lance discovered Kuron’s ruse. They had made a plan; Keith would take the Blade and rescue Shiro, and Lance would destroy Kuron with the aid of Voltron. 

Keith was perched in the vents of the base they infiltrated not days prior, checking in to confirm Lance was in position. He was to wait until Keith had Shiro before attacking, to ensure his safety. 

Keith looked at Krolia, who was also hidden behind a Blade mask, and Kolivan who was fastening ropes around his waist for the two of them to utilize during their escape. 

He looked down where the druids had gathered, once again trying to pry any information they could from the darkness of the cell. Keith felt his heart try to split in two. 

“Before we get started, thank you for helping me save him.” Keith whispered, and then removed the vent, rolling out into the hallway. 

He ran towards the cell where the druids had just made their leave, and bent down. 

“Shiro, it's me. It's Keith. We're gonna get you out of here.” 

Shiro did not answer. 

Keith gripped onto the cell doors. “Please. Shiro, please.”

Krolia patted his shoulder before just burning off the lock, silently opening the gate. She flashed a light into the cell and Keith swallowed the bile rapidly building in his throat. 

The cell was littered in blood. Broken pieces of what Keith assumed was armor laid scattered around the floor, and in the corner, laid a slumped Shiro. His eyes were closed but upon further inspection still had a pulse. Small victories, Keith supposed. 

Carefully lifting him, one arm over Keith's shoulder, the other over Krolia, Keith mentally laughed at the familiarity of it all, and tied the dangling rope around Shiro's waist, allowing Kolivan to pull him into the vents. 

“We have 85 ticks to get back to the pods before we're compromised. Let's get going.” Kolivan whispered, and they trudged through the vents, hauling an unconscious Shiro behind them.

And damn if they weren’t so close, the exit vent visible and right there- and suddenly the vent gave way underneath the team, sending them crashing into the ground below. Keith immediately activated his Marmoran sword, stance tense in front of Shiro’s groaning frame. 

Where the group reformed, backs to each other to create a dome around Shiro, there were thousands of Galran soldiers mulling about in what appeared to be the common hall of the base. Just their fucking luck. 

Lance would’ve probably cracked a joke about how the cafeterias in space are probably just as bad as he remembers. Grunting the thought away, Keith gathered the essentials of his surrounds; they were severely outnumbered, only three of the four could fight, and the fourth was unconscious and fatally injured already. Keith took a quick glance at Krolia. He hoped this wouldn’t be the last time they saw each other, but he wasn’t letting anyone hurt Shiro. Krolia was his mom, but Shiro is the closest family he’s ever had. He’s lost him so many times, he wasn’t about to lose him again with them  _ so close _ .

The moment of eerie calm ended as quick as it came, and suddenly the entire room was in arms, soldiers yelling, raising their weapons ready for an attack. Keith yelled, pushing back a soldier who had run at a brutal force.

Around him, Kolivan threw another soldier, sending them flying into a few more further back.

“We need to evacuate, now!” Krolia hijacked a gun from a soldier passed out on the floor after she sent her foot into his face, aiming much farther behind them and hitting into the kitchen. Soon an alarm cried, red lights blinking. That can’t be good.

“Keith?” he turned, and Shiro began slowly sitting up, grabbing at his head, “Keith is that you?”

Keith kicked off the chest of a soldier, landing near the center of Shiro’s vision. “I’m right here buddy. We’re gonna get you out of here.”

Soldiers began filing in and Krolia grabbed Keith’s shoulder, pulling him towards the wall.

“You’re gonna leave us cornered.” Keith argued, thrashing towards where Kolivan had Shiro hoisted over his shoulder, groaning. 

“Keith.” Krolia fired her gun again, aiming again at the kitchen. “Trust me, son.”

She fired once more, and the kitchen burst into flames- she had been aiming for the gas pipes, Keith realized belatedly- and turned to fire at the wall, effectively busting a hole where their escape pod laid untouched. The vacuum of space began pulling nearby soldiers out past them, Krolia and Keith gripping onto the outer wall to keep from separating. Kolivan was already trucking it to the pod.

“What the hell are you doing? Shiro doesn’t have a mask he’ll-” Keith was cut off by the constant blasting of guns, all half hazardously aiming for him. Much to Keith’s relief, Kolivan was able to get inside the pod quickly, Shiro safely tucked inside. Krolia fired off warning shots, taking a few down in her wake before jumping in the pod, Keith quickly shutting the door behind her. “Go!”

Once they were leveled, security drones intercepted their path.  _ God damn it.  _ Krolia took over piloting, maneuvering through the warpath and rushing her way out of range. Keith sat in the back, Shiro weakly leaned against his shoulder. “Hey.” 

Krolia tossed a radio towards Keith, a light blinking to indicate it had connected to another line.

Keith combed through Shiro’s discolored hair, tapping in to where he knew Lance was waiting on the other end of the line.

“You there?”

_ “Keith, what's going on?” _

“It's on you now, Lance.”

The gasp of relief on the other end slightly startled Keith, but he supposed he wasn't the only one who's nerves were through the roof. 

_ “Roger that, Team Leader.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry the chapters have been shorter, suspense is key and i don't know how to effectively storywrite to create great visuals and not be overbearingly wordy about it. hopefully we'll see some improvement.


	10. Astral Plane

“Roger that, Team Leader.” 

Lance was decked in full paladin armor, not willing to risk anything, setting up a team training earlier that morning to ensure the rest of Voltron was also in armor. However this also meant Kuron was, but pick your battles, Lance supposed. 

Keith had Shiro. They were both safe. Lance felt his pulse barely stabilize at that. Keith had been so frantic the night before, it was worrisome to say the least. 

But now wasn't the time for Lance to dwell. Now Lance had to save his team from Haggar and her evil intel. 

Walking into the training deck, the rest of the team stood waiting. 

“Man, to be so eager to train with everyone, you’re pretty late.” Pidge poked at his shoulder, but Lance’s breath caught in his throat when he noticed how Shiro’s-  _ Kuron’s _ eyes seemed to be calculating. Maybe Lance was just seeing things, but now wasn't the time. He had to do this. He had to get this over with. 

“Let's begin.” Kuron said. Lance wondered if he’d caught on yet. That Lance was privy to such sensitive knowledge. 

Lance activated his bayard, aiming more so for Kuron’s knees. Kuron charged for his head, and if the purple glow of his eyes said anything, Lance was pretty fucking certain Kuron had caught on. 

“Shiro, calm down.” Hunk was processing the unusual aggression and trying to separate them, but completely backed off when Lance yelled and switched his gun to the Altean broadsword. 

“Hello, Kuron.” Lance panted, and Kuron charged for another attack. Lance dove out of the way, yelling for the others to get out. 

“What is happening?” Pidge yelled, using her bayard to tie down Lance. “Enough!”

“Damn it, Pidge!” Lance yelled. “Shiro is Kuron! Kuron isn't safe. Please, listen to me!”

Kuron had already started towards Pidge, who was frozen to the floor. Hunk barged in the way, tackling Kuron to the ground. 

“What the quiznack is happening in here?” Allura busted through the door. 

Lane untangled himself and charged at Kuron again, but Allura stopped him. “What are you  _ doing _ ?”

He huffed a breath. “Eliminating the enemy.” Lance pushed through Allura, pulled Kuron up to his face and spat, “You can't win, Haggar. You won't win.” 

Kuron thrashed and cut upwards, opening a wound that went from the exposed collarbone of his armor all the way up to his eyebrow, and Lance bit back a scream. He activated the gun of his bayard and pointed the barrel at Shiro- _ Kuron. This is Kuron, damn it. _

“Lance?!” Allura was running towards him and Lance blinked. It was hard to tell if the pools forming in his eyes were tears or blood, or both. Aiming and pulling the trigger, Lance yelled out. 

Quick and fast. Over. 

The next few moments were tense, filled with deafening silence as the room collectively tried to process what just happened. Lance fell to his knees, tears spilling down his face as he noticed Kuron’s lifeless body on the floor, how the bullet wound went straight through his head, just as Lance had aimed it to. There was no blood. 

Pidge punched him in the face. 

“What the  _ hell _ was that? What the fuck Lance? Why? Are you a spy? Are you working with the Galra? Why? Wh-Why would you-” She was sobbing, and Lance held his jaw. 

“Kuron is a project Haggar has been developing. A carbon copy of Shiro, some great warrior she wanted to weaponize. I’m sorry I couldn't tell you guys earlier. Keith and I figured this out last night and- and we had to act before Haggar did anything else to Shiro. I’m sorry.” Lance pulled Pidge close to him, and she hugged him tightly. Hunk and Allura fell into the hug as well. “Keith has Shiro. I’m sorry. We had to- we didn't have long to plan.”

“I’m sorry.” Lance repeated, and in that moment he didn't know who he was apologizing to.  

 

\---

 

Lance felt something pull at his chest, and his eyes snapped open. Suddenly, the Red Lion was gone, and he stood on a plane of stars, which reflected all around him. When he looked behind him, Lance nearly toppled over. Keith was sitting on the floor. 

“Keith?” The echo of his voice startled both Lance and Keith, but the sound of his name got the boy’s attention. 

_ “Lance? Lance! Hey! I’m here, I’m here.” _ Keith stood, and Lance ran to him. 

“Keith, oh my god.” He pulled him into a hug before whispering into his ear, “where are you?”

_ “Would you believe me if I said your bedroom?”  _ Keith gripped back, and Lance just laughed. 

“Sure. Fucking sure, Kogane. God, you're alive.” He held Keith for a moment longer, and finally released when Keith exhaled for maybe the fourth time. 

_ “I actually am in your room, Lance. Nice glow in the dark stars, a great touch.” _ Keith smirked, and Lance wondered if his face could blush in this weird state of existence. 

“I was twelve, and my sister made me, leave me alone.” Keith laughed at that. 

“So you're on Earth? In my house?” Lance questioned. 

_ “Your family found me, and took me in. They know you're alive and are already asking some ridiculous questions that only someone related to you could think of. Rosa asked if there were robotic puppies like the lions.” _ Keith smiled. 

Lance’s heart clenched. His  _ family _ .  “She's got a point though. Also, not to stray too far from the subject here, but where… are we?” Lance asked. 

Keith looked around. 

_ “This is the Astral Plane. I’ve been here once with Shiro, right before- before uh, when Kuron and I fought.” _ Keith scratched the side of his face, pointedly covering his scar. 

Lance nodded. 

“It's great to see you again buddy, but I’m gonna find you. We're coming for you. We're gonna get you back, Keith.” Lance took Keith's hand off his face. 

_ “I’ll see you soon, Lance.” _ Keith smiled, before gently squeezing Lance's hand. 

Lance blinked, the inside of the Red Lion’s cockpit flooding his vision again sitting idly in the Castle of Lions. 

“Thank you, Red.” Lance patted the dashboard before jumping up and running out of the hangar, headed towards the rest of his team. 

They had a paladin to retrieve. 

 

\---

 

Lance felt his heart pounding in his throat as he relayed the details of his situation back to his team.

“He ended up on Earth. Makes sense it was right where your family was, given Haggar’s weird spell.” Hunk mumbled into the palm of his hand, eyebrows furrowed.

“What’s important is Keith is  _ alive _ , and we have a set location to where he is.” Shiro breathed, a small sigh of relief parting his words. “Princess, when do you think we can get to him?”

Allura was already approaching her tower in the center of the control room. “Give us about 30 dobashes. We’ll get him back soon enough.”

Hunk pulled on Lance’s sleeve. “Did you see your family?”

“No,” Lance whispered, wrapping his arms around himself. “All I saw was Keith, but you could tell he had met them. They have this… charm about them I guess? When you’re around them, you just feel... lighter. Keith looked happy, and I think it has a lot to do with my family. Not to sound like a complete douche-wad, but part of me is glad Keith ended up there. Maybe it’ll do him some good to be in that sort of environment.”

He didn’t look up until he felt cool metal wrap around his shoulder. Locking eyes with Shiro, Lance felt the inexplicable need to maintain eye contact. 

“Keith is in this situation because he had your back. You wanting him to experience your family's love and affection is your way of having his back off the battlefield, to take care of him as a team should; physically and mentally. Don't feel guilty, I’m proud of you for being able to want to be there for him like that.” Shiro spoke softly, distracting Lance as Allura piloted through a wormhole.

He smiled at Shiro. “Thanks.”

“Of course, Lance.” 

Pidge’s slap against the window and what sounded like a mix of a gasp and a cry of pain is what snapped Lance out of his thoughts, looking over to where Earth’s moon passed by the hull of the ship. In front of that; Earth, in all it’s homey glory. Lance ran up next to her, and she gripped around his arm. 

“We’re…” 

“-home” Lance finished for her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this hell is far from over


	11. Rachel McClain

Keith walked down the steps, a small smile on his face.

“Did anything happen?” Veronica said once he stepped into the living room.

Keith swallowed his smile, nodding. “Yeah.” Rosa ran up to him and he bent down, letting her grip onto his shoulders. “Yeah. They're coming.”

Rosa gasped, and Keith was startled with the raw force of how hard she started shaking him. “Tio Lance! He’s coming? How long’s it gonna take? Is he here now? Will we see him? Can we see everyone else? Can I go in the lion-”

Marcos picked her up, throwing Rosa over his shoulder as Luis steadied Keith. “In time, Rosa. Space is large, it's going to be a while.”

Keith smiled at the scene, tensing when he noticed Mrs. Sanchez staring at him.

“Ma’am?”

“Keith Kogane, it’s an honor to finally meet you.” She sat at the round dinner table, and Luis chuckled.

“Yeah dude, you were sort of a legend around here.” The way his shoulders slacked reminded him eerily of Lance, and his heartbeat picked up a bit.

“Me? Why?”

Veronica rolled her eyes. “Lance used to be obsessed with you. ‘Kogane did this today’ ‘Kogane bumped into me during the simulators today.’ ‘Kogane sat at our table at lunch today.’” She sounded funny trying to mimic preteen Lance, but it made Keith sweat nonetheless. Lance would talk about him?

Keith felt like he was going to die. He vaguely remembered Lance’s shrunken frame back in the Garrison. He was so small back then, arms in an awkward transition, his face not quite filled out yet. It only made Keith remember how much Lance had grown, even while in space, and the tips of his ears burned.

“Oh. My god.” Veronica paused her quoting, inspecting Keith, eyes boring into his own.

They were almost as blue as Lance’s, but the makeup was a bit distracting. Keith wondered what Lance would look like with makeup. He quickly broke eye contact, as if Veronica would hear him thinking and ridicule him for even having such thoughts.

“You like him! You have a crush on Lance!” She was laughing.

“Lance McClain? Aren’t you guys Sanchez’s?” Keith tried dodging the question, a blush creeping around his neck.

“You're asking if we're related to Lance _now?”_ Marco shook his head.

“Name was changed when he entered the Garrison, Lance was registered under our other sister, Rachel, who lives over there.” Luis aided. “But you already knew about her.”

“Someone should call her. She of all people would want to know what’s going on.” Marco spoke into the palm of his hand, a few murmurs across the room.

Mrs. Sanchez said she’d be on that as soon as things settled.

“So is it true? You like him?” Veronica leaned impossibly closer. Luis shook his head, Marco sighing. Even Mrs. Sanchez seemed unfazed by the announcement, and Keith gulped.

“Wh-What? I guess I like him, we’re on the same team? I dunno about crush level, but-” Keith felt like he was being backed into a corner.

“What do you like about him?” Luis asked, a devilish smirk on his face he has _definitely_ seen Lance make.

“Wh-Uh… His hair?” Keith refused to look at any of them. Even Rosa was getting in on the fun.

“Tio Lance’s hair was always so soft. Is it still soft?” She started tapping on the table.

“I don't know? I don't run my hands through his hair every day!” Keith was a red blushing mess and he knew it.

“So you just like to look at his hair?” Dammit Rosa, stop talking.  

“Wh-I uh, no? I mean yeah, it's nice and he takes care of himself well, but like it's not a vanity thing. He's just- so effortlessly pretty? Like If we're holding a meeting and the diplomats take over, I’ll look at him and he's just sitting there, braiding the tips of his hair. If I’m ever bored around the Castle he’s always there, always keeping someone company. He doesn't leave much silence when he's around.” Keith rubbed at his hands. “In the heat of battle he’s got my back. And I’ve got his. I’m not letting anything happen to him.”

He recalled how Haggar was going to hit Lance, and he instinctively moved. He didn't remember thinking it, but one moment he saw Haggar, and the next he was hugging Lance goodbye, waking up on Varadero beach.

Suddenly, Keith felt a pang of guilt. In some twisted way, he almost wished he hadn't jumped in front if Lance. If he hadn't been so protective, Lance could be with his family right now. Lance could be here on Earth, not Keith.

“Do you get in battles a lot?” Marcos was looking at his hands, expression dark. Looking around, the entire mood of the room had drastically chilled, and Keith forgot for just a moment that this was a family that was still mourning. They lost a child, a brother, an uncle, and every day without him is a reminder of that. To find out he’s alive but running the risk of death at any moment anyways…

Keith couldn't lie to them. “Yes. We were just wrapping up one when I was hit with some spell from Haggar and ended up here.”

“Whoever this Haggar motherfucker is better duck and hide, because she's as good as dead if I cross her path.” Luis popped his knuckles, and Keith pondered.

Was Haggar alive? It was possible, Keith really wasn't sure he had hit Haggar with his sword, but he trusted his team. They were smart, and could've taken her down in his wake.

“You and me both, Luis.”

 

\---

 

Retreating back to Lance’s room, Keith was stopped by Mrs. Sanchez, her gentle tug on his hand eerily similar to how Lance would guide him around the Castle, but he supposed Lance had to learn it from someone.

Once she had stopped wandering, Keith noticed he was in Mr. and Mrs. Sanchez’s room, the walls a faded yellow and every available counter-space, bed frame and desk were coated with picture frames- Keith easily picked out all the Sanchez siblings he had interacted with up until now.  Inspecting the room further, he noticed on the grey sheets of the bed laid a phone, the screen lit a dull orange glow, and Mrs. Sanchez gingerly grabbed onto his bicep.

“I have one daughter.” Mrs. Sanchez held up a finger, and Keith nodded. “But there is another daughter” She powered on in broken english.

She pulled him closer to the bed, and up close Keith could see the name ‘RACHEL’ etched in the screen, numbers counting upwards indicating a phone call.

Mrs. Sanchez let go of Keith, lightly waving a finger at the phone. “She wants to talk to you.”

Keith cleared his throat but it didn’t stop his voice from cracking as he said,  “Hello?”

 _“Ay! Keith Kogane? Holy shit, is that you?”_ a voice rang through the phone, allegedly on speaker and Mrs. Sanchez shook her head, walking out the door.

“Uh… yes?” Keith tensed slightly, twirling his fingers between each other.

 _“Perfect! Oh my god!”_ Rachel began laughing hysterically on the other end, and Keith began to chuckle as well. What could he say? This family’s energy is contagious, especially their laughs.

Quickly though, the laughs stopped and he heard her sniffle. “Rachel?”

 _“Sor-Sorry…”_ Rachel slurred quietly. _“Sorry I just- You just ended a pretty big argument in the Sanchez household.”_

Keith pondered for a moment, wondering if she was referring to Lance’s life. “He’s alive-” Keith paused “and doing more than well.”

Rachel breathed a huff of laughter,and there was rustling, Keith assumed she was adjusting herself.

“Do you have-” Keith began the same moment Rachel started with _“So, Keith Kogane-”_

A briefly awkward laugh between the two had Keith insisting she spoke first.

 _“Okay-So, Keith. What’s space like? Like, being that far out.”_ Her voice crackled over the line and Keith tilted his head.

“Nothing like the simulators.” He decided on. “Which- You’ve been to space before, right? Lance has said before that you were scheduled for a launch about a year after we took off.”

Rachel sighed. _“No, it was scheduled a month later, but with you all disappearing and the discovery of new, suspicious life forms, the launch was immediately suspended and just… never revisited.”_

“Oh. I’m uh, I’m sorry.”

_“It's okay, seriously. I’ve got other important matters to attend to here, at the Garrison. Besides, finding new rock matter on Saturn’s moons aren’t exactly my definition of a fun time.”_

Keith huffed, leaning back on a slow exhale. The Garrison. That was a place he hadn't thought about in a while.

“... Does Iverson still work there?” he questioned and Rachel laughed again.

 _“He’s always been here, dude. I’m convinced he's some immortal being-”_ Keith barked a hard laugh _“What?! Iverson_ **_never_ ** _ages and has been at the Garrison longer than everyone that works here. How did he get here?”_ Rachel joked before tone going serious.

_“Keith… how did you end up on Earth?”_

He scratched the back of his neck. “Honestly… I don't know. One minute I was standing with my team, literally right in front of Lance, and the next I’m waking up in a sandbox in Cuba. It's been a whirlwind of instances lately.”

 _“Shit’s been pretty wack, huh?”_ Rachel mumbled, moreso to herself.

Keith grunted. “Shit’s been _what_ now?”

 _“Wack? You know- like the meme, like the ‘his hair; WACK’ meme?”_ Rachel gasped, and Keith wondered if this has been slang forever that he just missed, or if it was something they weren't around for to learn. ‘They’ being his team, Keith realizes belatedly.

“Space sucks.” Keith decides. “Lance would like that one.”

Rachel sighed. _“How is he?”_

“He’s… Lance. Lance is the same as he’s always been.” Keith tilted his head, eyes scanning the room and landing on a photo of Lance and who he assumed was Rachel covered in glow-in-the-dark star stickers. Keith thinks he has a hunch as to who put the stickers on Lance's ceiling. “He’s definitely grown up, though. Don't get me wrong, he still cracks jokes and is as hopeless a romantic as ever, but he's just… He knows when to stop and get serious.

“He takes up so much responsibility, and has kicked it in gear, especially lately, to defeat Haggar- the last standing head of the Galran Empire that's plagued the rest of the universe for centuries. Lance is my right hand man, he knows how to get serious and be a leader, I’d trust him with my life.” Keith paused. “I _have_ trusted him with my life.”

 _“Lance has always been more responsible than people give him credit for. When we were kids, Veronica tripped and fell in the kitchen, landing almost perfectly on a fork. It's the funniest fucking thing now, but at the time she was bleeding just_ **_everywhere;_ ** _Marco and Luis weren't home and Lance and I were alone with a bleeding Veronica. I’ll be honest, I was losing my shit. I started freaking out, trying to get Lance out of the room- cause he didn't need to see all that shit-”_ Keith knew Lance has seen much more gruesome injuries than a fork to the leg since then, but he kept quiet. _“and I’m running for the phone to call my mom, an ambulance, 911-_ **_something_ ** _and Lance just yells ‘Everyone stop!’ and I look at him- You know that counter that connects the kitchen to the living room?”_

Rachel didn't give him a second to breathe before continuing, _“He yells ‘Everyone stop!’ and I’m looking over that, a perfect view of my sister bleeding out and little Lance just wrapping her leg in a rag. He was immediately on it”_ She snapped her fingers a few times. _“Lance made sure Veronica was able to stand, was able to get her over to the couch, and even helped clean up the floor. He was eleven? Twelve, maybe? Too young to barely bat an eye at that much blood.”_

Keith sighed. “He’s always been able to stick it out for injured people.”

_“When else has he?”_

Keith paused a moment. When _hasn’t_ Lance, now _that_ was a question.

“The first time I properly met him after I left the Garrison- the night we left Earth. That’s probably the first time he ever did that; he helped me save Shiro- he saved Shiro, _and_ helped _me_ , a dude he’s hated forever. Then there was that time he straight up covered another team member when a bomb detonated in the same room of the castle they were in. He’s taken so many hits- taken so many detrimental hits that could’ve killed someone- and still wakes up the next morning, ready for Round Two” Keith gripped at his hands, nails digging into his palm. “He throws himself in every available outlet to protect someone, no matter what the consequences are to him. Back when we had a double agent clone hiding in our team- it was a clone of Shiro, who Lance just fucking _adores-_ Lance had to look him in the eyes with a gun to the clone’s head and pull the trigger.

“That’s just on the battlefield. Do you have any idea how many times he’s calmed me down from blowing up on diplomats, or distracted Hunk to de-stress by playing with his hair while he tinkers? I passed the common room one night and he had Pidge asleep in his lap to keep her from staying up all night coding. I know he’s comforted Allura on several occasions and really stuck it out when Shiro was actually a clone- God, he tried so _hard_ . And yet- And yet he was still given the short end of the stick. He was still torn down and just about beaten by his hero- how does someone live with that?” Keith didn’t realize he was crying until the tears were on his hands, already past rolling down his face. He breathed a shaky breath. “When I hugged my mom for the first time in twenty years, for some reason the first thing I thought of was, _’Oh. This is what Lance means.’_ Part of me began to understand on more than just a fundamental level how he was feeling about _his_ family- you guys. How it felt to miss someone you care so much about.”

Why was he telling Rachel all of this? He didn’t even really know what she looked like- the picture of her and Lance was pretty old given how young Lance looked. However, he strangely didn’t regret it; Rachel deserved to know.

 _“You really care about him, huh?”_ Rachel’s voice was soft, and quiet sniffles told Keith he wasn’t the only one crying in their conversation.

“I don’t know what I would do without him. I don’t know…” Keith gripped a little harder on his palm, slouching. “I don’t want to know who I would be without him.”

The line was silent. Not even the crackle of Rachel’s breathing, just. Silence.

“Rachel?”

 _“Don’t worry about it. Keith, I-”_ A loud noise was heard in the background. Something had definitely shattered. _“I need to go right now, but we will talk again.”_

Keith sat up straighter, belatedly noticing his grip on the handle of his Marmora sword.

“Rachel?”

The line glitched, a slight beeping from the phone that was now gripped in Keith’s shaking hands.

“Rachel? Rachel!”

What the _hell_ just happened?


	12. Welcome to Earth

Space has always been a passion for Lance, but the sheer intensity of Earth was always beautiful to him. His brother Luis wanted to be an oceanologist and had passed on much information to him that Lance had an infatuation with Earth as well. Rachel and Luis would argue for hours about whether or not Lance would grow to love space or the oceans, and Veronica would guess neither while Marcos bet on both. 

Even now, so far away from the soil yet so unbelievably close, Lance felt a sense of longing. A fresh wave of homesickness washed over his chest, his breathing becoming restricted. Lance was vibrating with anxious glee, alerting everyone around him about the satellite that was approaching, even though they could easily see it just as well as he could. 

“Hey, satellite, 12 o’clock.” Lance tapped on the glass. 

A hologram materialized on the main screen of the control room, and everyone flooded around Allura who stood dead center in front of it. 

“Unauthorized Aircraft, identify yourself.” an older woman spoke, and Lance never thought he’d be so happy to see a Garrison uniform in his life. 

“We are Voltron, defenders of the universe, and we are here to retrieve a missing member of our team.” Allura spoke, head held tall.

“Are you prefacing your presence with a blatant attempt of abduction?” the commander looked past Allura where Coran and Shiro stood. “Have you done this before?”

“These are all pleasantries I’m sure we’d all rather trade on the surface. I swear to you under Alfor’s name, we are not here to hurt you, your people, or your planet.” Allura was getting agitated, her hand tapping lightly on the table. Lance wondered how she managed to be silent with such long nails.

“Are you suggesting you are not from Earth?” The commander didn't seem any more pleased, but they certainly had her attention.

“If you don't mind-” Shiro stood next to Allura, gently gripping onto her shoulder before falling into the standard Garrison salute. “I am Officer Takashi Shirogane; pilot of Mission Kerberos and am requesting permission to land.”

If the commander was confused before, she had certainly been thrown for a loop now. 

“O-Officer Shirogane?” She looked around the room she stood in, mumbling offscreen to someone who Lance assumed was another commander.

“It’s me, yes. On this ship are three other citizens of Earth, not including myself, and two members of the Altean society. We are requesting permission to land on Garrison grounds.” Shiro stood a little straighter next to Allura.

“Alright, please shut off your engines and we will dock you immediately.” The commander was already walking offscreen when Allura thanked them for their time, stepping away from the tower to turn off the engine as instructed. Shiro walked over to where Pidge stood in front a window, the two mumbling to each other in conversation. Lance huffed, leaning into Hunk’s side waiting for the exit pod to load onto the Garrison cruiser in front of them.

At the sudden jolt of the ships being boarded, Lance felt his nerves build again. Were they finally able to go home?

At the sound of crew members marching towards the bridge, Shiro had Hunk open the doors, revealing many Garrison members holding shields and a long stick with a glowing end. 

“Everyone, hands up and follow us calmly.” The supposed commander from before called, her frame much taller and toned than what was visible through a screen. Lance felt the back of his neck get warm, a strange sense of unease building in his gut. But, he supposed, when dealing with intergalactic travelers, the Garrison wasn’t just going to let them run wild. A thorough investigation and a  _ lot  _ of prodding would probably be involved before he could roam Earth freely again.

Lance really wasn’t looking forward to this.

 

—-

 

Once in the Garrison ship, they were tucked in a bunker towards the cargo storage quarters where many extra uniforms and extra objective materials. Pidge felt the sleeve of the orange cadet uniforms, standard for most any personnel that wasn’t Lieutenant or higher. 

“Should we put these on?” She mumbled more to herself.

“Why would we? We’re here as Voltron, we’re not exactly trying to form any bonds with the Garrison- we  _ haven’t  _ formed any bonds. We can’t trust them.” Shiro leaned against the wall, relaxed stature but his face remained strained. “We don’t answer anything until they work with us, on our terms.”

It must hurt, remembering how the Garrison treated Shiro like such shit when he first arrived back on Earth. Lance couldn’t help but gulp. Hunk broke the silence, wiping off dust on top of one of the boxes. 

“It might not be a bad idea- working with the Garrison, that is. It could let us possibly try and merge tech-“

“Allowing the Garrison to add to Altean tech could lead to them overpowering and trying to overrun Voltron.” Shiro stood, walking across the room, cornering Hunk. “We do not trust them”

The way he stood arched towards Hunk made bile rise in Lance’s throat, his legs moving before he could recall as to why. Lance stood with a hand gripped on Shiro’s shoulder, reaching for a bayard that had long since been confiscated, realizing Shiro had the upper hand. He could easily throw Lance off, and then what? He attacks the team again? Hunk could hold him down defense-wise and Allura might be able to fight one on one due to her agility, but everyone else was fucked. 

Shiro was moving. Lance couldn’t see but Shiro was turned on him, his metal arm whirring under Lance’s hand. He fucked up, hadn’t he? Kuron was going to destroy Voltron and take the Garrison down with it. Fuck. Fuck. 

Someone was yelling- he  _ thinks _ someone is yelling, but it’s so hard to hear. He has to move- when did he get on the floor? How is he sitting? Get up, get up, get-

“What’s going on in here?” a Garrison uniform stood in the doorway that had opened at  _ some _ point, and suddenly more hands were gripping at Lance, pulling at his arms and his head as he thrashed. He needs to get  _ out _ , he can’t let his team down. They don’t know who Kuron is. Keith doesn’t know about this snag. Keith- Keith is depending on him to save their fucking team. 

More hands gripped onto Lance, a loud shriek making itself heard and Lance wondered belatedly if that was  _ him _ .

“He’s having a panic attack! Let go, let go of him!” he registered that as Hunk’s voice.

“Any unusual behavior will be directly reported to-”

“Unusual behavior? Let him go! You’ll only make matters worse!”

Lance’s vision kept blurring, but he saw Kuron cornered by three Garrison uniforms- good, take him down- and yellow paladin armour slowly creeping towards him. His skin was vibrating, and the room was spinning too much. Lance had to physically keep his nausea at bay, opting to close his eyes for a moment.

What a  _ mistake. _

Without the visual distraction, Lance was able to really let the situation sink in- Kuron was going to destroy Earth and it was his fault for not disposing of him earlier. Lance let him right through the door, and god, he almost attacked Hunk-

“Lance, listen to me buddy. Can you look at me?” Hunk was still a small distance from him, but with a hand outreached, Lance opened his eyes, letting Hunk meet his hand in a firm grip.

“Just focus on me.” Hunk sat in front of him, pointedly blocking where Allura had shoved the Garrison staff out of the room. “Can you count to ten?”

Lance weakly nodded.

“One.”

“One.” Lance repeated, voice shaky and hoarse.

“Two”

“Two” He breathed in deep, feeling some of the anxiety ripple out his arms. 

Hunk’s grip never faltered as they continued counting, and Lance gulped. After a moment of clarity, he looked where Shiro stood hunched in the corner, cowering behind Allura, Coran, and Pidge, which had built a sort of barricade in the furthest corner out of sight.

“It’s okay, we’re safe. You’re safe, Lance.” Hunk rubbed his thumb over Lance’s knuckles, a practice used in the Garrison dorms when Lance was particularly stressed over simulations or exams or just… life.

“Thank you.” Lance mumbled, gripping onto Hunk as he stood, leaning most of his weight on him.

“Lance, I’m sorry-” Shiro held both hands palm out, slowly leaning back into his space, and Lance shook his head.

“S’Not your fault,” he smiled at Shiro- Shiro, not Kuron,  _ Shiro _ \- and placed his other hand on his shoulder, hoping he’d ignore the slight shake, “You’re safe. We’re all good. It’s okay.”

Shiro smiled, however worry still creased his forehead. He opened his mouth just as the ship jerked, Lance falling backwards on unsteady feet into Hunk’s chest.

“Garrison Docked” an animatronic voice echoed through the PA system wired in the ship, and sudden knocking was heard on the other side of the door.

Allura opened the door, allowing scientists and armed soldiers in the standard Garrison uniform to pool in the small storage unit, each placing handcuffs on the group.

“Hey- What’s going on?” Shiro hid the panic in his voice well, but not entirely. 

None of the workers answered anything the Paladins would ask, leading them silently all through the ship they were boarded- guiding them outside for a brief moment. The harsh heat of sunlight basked Lance for a second, a second he cherished and immediately missed when shoved head-down into another canal. The walls were metal and barely screwed together, leading to a long hallway of old cells with rusted jail bars keeping them trapped as each of them were dropped in a cell individually. A soldier locked their handcuffs to the walls behind them, keeping their movements restricted. 

“What is going on?” Shiro asked once more, the Commander from before standing in front his cell. 

“You all are hereby filed as A-51 property under invasion and threats to humanity for unauthorized personnel, attacking Garrison workers, and the use of unauthorized aircraft.” she pivoted a perfect one eighty, and the hallway cleared. 

Voltron was being held hostage by the Garrison. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for not updating, i fell in a weird slump and am trying to just move on anyways so hopefully it won’t be a whole ass month (give or take) between now and ch. 13 please be patient i haven’t abandoned this project i promise


	13. Old Ties

The sudden ending beep from the phone in his hand made Keith swallow thickly, hands slightly shaking. With his focus adjusted, he noticed it was later than he realized- much later, it was dark out. 

Keith bolted off then bed, nearly running into Mrs. Sanchez to drop the phone back in her hands.

“She hung up.” he watched her tilt her head.

“Did she say anything?” Mrs. Sanchez gripped Keith’s elbow, and the gesture felt oddly intimate. Or maybe she was panicking. Either way, the grip in his arm was fierce, and probably leaving a bruise.

“Uh… Yes? Well- I mean she said ‘we’ll talk again soon,’ so I guess she’ll call back?” But Keith wasn’t that naive. Being pit against the Galra made him realize people lie, even when in danger.

He also knew the Sanchez bloodline to be notorious for that.

“Something is wrong.” Mrs. Sanchez dragged him to the living room where Veronica and Luis were watching the news, a cargo ship had crashed on Cuba’s south coast, and people were seeking volunteers to help clean up the ocean. “Chico, turn that shit off.”

Luis choked as Mrs. Sanchez furiously turned the volume down on the remote, dropping it on the couch with one hand, other still firmly gripped around Keith’s arm.

“Mama?” Marco rounded the corner, stopping short at her determination.

“Rachel did not say goodbye.”

Keith tilted his head. 

“No huego?” He began muttering to himself, Keith piecing together what broken spanish Lance had taught him over the years. 

“Rachel always leaves with a joke or some story about the professors, and she ALWAYS tells mama she can’t wait to come back to plant the marigolds.” Luis filled in the gaps for Keith. “It’s… it’s just something she’s always done, no matter what.”

After a moment, Keith wondered if it was a flower pot that broke, it sounded ceramic- if he remembered the sound of breaking ceramic correctly. “Something broke, she was rushed.”

“Has never stopped her before.”

Veronica’s cell phone rang, face paling as she looked at the screen. “Iverson.” she supplied, running out of the room, dragging Keith in with her and out of the stunned silence of the living room.

 

-

 

“Come in.” A gruff voice demanded.

“Hello to you too, Iverson.” Veronica twiddled with the ends of her hair, pacing back and forth between her bedroom floor.

Iverson’s voice rattled through the speaker of her phone, “Come in. Bring him with you.” Keith bit the inside of his cheek. 

“Who’s ‘him’?”

“The man that has been quote unquote ‘crashing in Lance’s crib’” and Veronica bit back a sigh.

“Ah.  _ Him _ .” Veronica stared at Keith, keeping a finger up to her lips indicating him to stay quiet. “He’s a family friend, he’s been here for a few weeks but he’s not harmful.”

Iverson groaned, “You willing to testify on that?”

Keith shook his head. Veronica mumbled a stiff “maybe,” and Iverson once again prodded.

“Come in. They’re trying to tap into the phones, so I have the next fifteen seconds to explain this: Keith Kogane is more or less a vigilante criminal in the eyes of the Garrison. Get him here without them knowing, I’ll help where I can from there.” Veronica covered her mouth with her hand.

“Sir, why?” She was starting to cry, “You could lose your position, your everythi-”   
“I expect you here in three days, Sanchez. Check your mail.” And the call ended.

At the sound of three beeps and another unnerving phone call cut short, Keith let himself fall on the manilla comforter on Veronica’s bed. “That was something”

Veronica was still pacing, occasionally stopping to look at a photo that Keith recognized occurred during her wedding- Her and Carlos in the center, their parents on the opposing sides, and siblings littering the corners. They all stood shocked where a blurry Lance was tripping over a smaller dog, a random arm reaching for him that had been cut out from the camera’s view.

It was a nice photo, and reminded Keith of Lance a lot, despite literally being a photo of him.

Veronica cut his train of thought with- “Did he tell us to eye the mail?”

The jolt into the present reminded Keith of a few of his own queries.

“How do you know Iverson?” He asked the same moment Veronica threw open the door and ran down the hall. Keith tripped over himself to catch up, knocking into the wall before chasing her. Fuck this family and their long legs. “Hey-  _ Hey  _ wait a sec!”

“I used to work for the Garrison,” she yelled over her shoulder, weaving down the stairs, hand out to ensure Keith didn’t trip again. “Albeit more undercover work, I was still technically a Garrison employee- A side gig I did to help get more money for the family.” Veronica was running through the front of the house where the aforementioned sat watching the two whirr by in confusion. 

Veronica was out the door and to the mailbox before Keith finally caught up to look her in the face, her furiously sorting through the envelopes inside. Turning and walking back inside head down, Keith ran to catch up to Veronica once again. Getting tired of the seemingly endless goose chase, Keith gripped her upper arm and lead her into a side room- Mrs. Sanchez’s bedroom, Keith’s memory filled in for him- and suggested she took a seat.

Veronica stayed standing, and Keith finally just crossed his legs and dropped to the floor. “Please explain what the fuck is going on.”

Veronica gasped, gripping a white envelope and tossing the rest of the pile on her mother’s bed, sitting adjacent Keith on the floor and flashed a toothy grin at him. “Okay, basically waaaay long ago, like Lance-and-Rachel-were-in-elementary long ago, there was this bright flash in our backyard one night, and I was the only one who noticed it. And, admittedly looking back it was kind of stupid of me to run out at like three in the morning, but hey! It was this big glowing orb of sorts- it looked like some… big essence just staring at the house, floating a good four and a half meters off the ground.”

Veronica was smiling, but her voice wavered with anxiety. Keith gulped. “I go out there in a robe and like, sandals or whatever, yelling as sternly as I can for this thing to get lost cause it’s gonna catch attention that literally nobody needed at the time, and suddenly this helicopter lands and three adults in officer’s uniforms come barreling out. I was literally so confused, dude. 

“They start asking me all these questions like,  _ ‘Who are you?’  _ and  _ ‘What is this?’  _ as if I had any clue as to what that shit was. Wait, wouldn’t I be asking  _ them  _ that shit?” Veronica groaned into the palm of her hand as it slid down her face. “I was seventeen at the time, and there were strangers on my property trying to talk about a glowing essence that was still kinda pointed at my home and I guess I impressed them with my threats to knock them into next week if they don’t get off my property immediately, cause suddenly they were backing off. They actually left which was… nice, but there was still this unknown thing in the backyard that was level with Lance and Rachel’s room and I didn’t know what to do. I kinda just watched it for another hour before it vanished entirely. I never saw it again.”

Veronica fumbled with the corners of the envelope.

“The three officers showed up at the front door again, somehow just as everyone else in the house had left so it literally was just me and three Americans about to duke it out in the front yard, but then they offered me a job. Said I was  _ ‘a real promise to the future,’ _ and that my  _ ‘tenacity and bravery should be put to good use.’  _ And I mean hey, when someone offers you a million pesos over the course of ten years to keep an eye on an orb you’d probably never see again in your life, it’s not a difficult ‘yes,’ ya know?” Keith didn’t, but let her continue. “They told me to keep quiet about it. I did for a while, until they ran short-staffed about a year later and needed an outsider to snoop because one of the Administrators was going ape-shit, or so it was explained to me.

“This has never, and probably will never be public knowledge, but it was a man named Graham that was trying to work on space exploration, but to the extreme. Like, to the ends of the universe extreme, and had a full doc on every cadet that ever went through the Garrison. He wanted a forty-eight mass suicide mission, basically, and when they shut him down he completely vanished off the grid. Since they had technically been working with me on the DL, and apparently was a hundred percent off-record, Iverson came to me and asked me to move to America to help track down Graham. That’s when my family found out. Rachel was seven at the time, and god she was so excited. All she knew was that her big sister was going on a space adventure and doing some research in America- same with Lance, he was as in the dark as possible- but boy, did it spark an interest in her.” 

Veronica tilted her head, zoning out on the picture of Rachel and Lance on Mrs. Sanchez’s bedside. “It really sparked an interest in the both of them, the more I think about it. That trip was the hardest thing I had ever done in my life. I had just met Carlos and couldn’t even begin to explain what was going on, but he let me go and was there when I came back. But that trip took something out of me I didn’t even realize I had, the sheer emotional cutoff I had when I returned was hard on everyone, I think. Maybe that’s why Momma cried so hard when Rachel and Lance went to the Garrison. Scared that they’d follow in my path. Lord knows how upset she was when Lance died. Or went missing. Or whatever.”

Keith had an idea forming in his head, and wondered if it had been in Veronica’s, too. “Veronica-”

“I pulled a couple strings to get Rachel in. It was all she ever wanted and she just missed the scores, but she worked so hard and the Garrison rarely gave second chances. I promised I’d be an undercover whenever they needed me, and from time to time they do. So, when they do-” She waved the white envelope in front of Keith’s face. “They typically hook up a ride as well.”

As Veronica opened the envelope, a letter and two slips of paper floated out. Plane tickets looked a little different than the last time Keith saw them, but he had never actually seen them in real life, only movies, so the style of tickets probably hadn’t changed much. Keith thumbed over the stock paper, “When do we head out?”

Veronica stood, already reaching for the door. “Two hours.”

Ah, Keith realized, bolting behind Veronica in what was becoming an excessive routine. She had to be pretty fit, Keith thought offhandedly, to be running around this often and to lift that random suitcase she had pulled out from the hall- had that been in the closet the entire time?

“Always be prepared. Always on duty, basically.” She filled in before grabbing him by the bicep and running for the door.

“Wait!” Mrs. Sanchez spoke, walking with an envelope of her own extended, which Veronica grabbed. The two hugged and kissed each other’s temples, before Mrs. Sanchez turned to Keith.

She wrapped him in her arms, and he felt oddly homey. “Take care, son.”

Keith didn’t dwell on how her words scorched his brain and left an odd ache in his chest as he jumped in a hatchback parked in the driveway after Veronica. Didn’t dwell on how he felt like the words were directed to someone else probably, as he boarded the plane. He didn’t, okay?

He couldn’t.

 

-

 

The plane ride was only four hours long, a feat that Keith was accustomed to, although Veronica couldn’t stop fidgeting. At one point, he started talking just to distract her from the depth outside the window. Must be scared of heights.

“So… You and Iverson are close?”

“As close as you could imagine, I mean it-it’s Iverson. Also, avoid work-talk, never know who’s listening.” Veronica scoped around and Keith decided she was a shit spy. “Why don’t you tell me about my brother?”

Keith then decided she was shit in general.

“Isn’t that kind of… work-talk?” He started slumping down his seat, avoiding eye contact from the girl beside him. She looked too much like Lance to take her seriously. Her eyes were the same color but the shape was wider in Lance’s, her nose was more slim and Lance’s jaw didn’t round out as soft as Veronica’s, but still. Lance was still there and it hurt to look at her for a moment.

“Not necessarily, you two aren’t just coworkers- are you?” She was prodding, a dumb smirk on her face Lance had replicated before for certain.

“I-Well, I wouldn’t cut it off at just _ ‘coworkers,’ _ but honestly I-” Keith furrowed his eyebrows, “I don’t really know.”

He left it at that, because anything more hurt his head and his heart, and neither were admirable for the situation they were walking themselves into.

Veronica hummed, but refused to leave him to his dwelling, “You  _ don’t _ know or you don’t  _ want _ to know? Lance has never been subtle in the art of romance.”

And, well, she kinda had a point? If Keith was really so on the fence about Lance’s feelings, it’s possible there weren’t any there to begin with. 

Shaking his head, Keith shrugged. He didn’t need to be worrying over such trivial things. The idea of labeling anything to do with Lance as ‘trivial’ made Keith feel a little nauseous, but it was true. He has to focus on the mission at hand. 

“I think our concerns lie elsewhere right now.” he settled on. 

Veronica squinted, pinching her chin in thought. “Perhaps, but now would be the time to dwell, we won’t have any availability for it once we get to America,” and she didn’t address Keith again. 

Supposing she was right, he indulged himself. Keith dwelled. 


End file.
